Change of Hearts
by Lady.Pandemonium
Summary: KaibaxOC, rating will change! Iris is a young woman with a goal in life, but after having an eventful past she finds it hard to really trust many. Kaiba doesn't allow anyone to get to close to him, for both his and his little brother's sake. But after one encounter, and many surprises in store the two of them will have to learn to face their problems. Not good at writing summaries.
1. A Change of Pace

Hey guys! I hope you like this story I've written up there is a lot of 'mild' language in it so that explains the rating but I hope you like it and as the story goes along I'll explain later why I chose such actions and events if necessary! Things are gonna be a bit slow at first, but they'll pick up soon. Hope you like it!

 **Disclaimer! My OC's deck is very similar to mine that I have created in the Yugioh Duel Links Game. I'm not going to write very many duels but I thought this would be something nice to add, and I'm sorry if I don't do a good job of describing duels.**

* * *

Looking out the window of her small apartment, she could see it. Even in the darkest of nights the sleek platinum building of KaibaCorp glistened like a shining star. From a distance she could barely see the red background of the sign that hung in front with the letters "KC" colored in gold. All other lights could not compare to its gleam. A place of advance technology, and skills that were unmatched to any other place.

She was sure that there were a few people that stopped as they passed by the building that would take a second to look up at it. She herself had done it once before, standing before the iron gates, wondering what secrets are behind those silver doors. Any who had the chance to walk in through those gates could have been intimidated by the large statues of the Blue Eyes White Dragon standing before each side of the paved road near the entrance.

Even if it wasn't the tallest building in Domino City she was sure that it would still shine bright. Turning her eyes away she returned back to her desk, a few books were stacked at both far corners as the began to look over the opened one in front of her. She knew that if she was to have any hope of making it in the world she needed to ensure her fate.

Tucking back a lock of her long dark hair behind her ear she adjusted her lamp, as she focused most of the light on the center of the book. It still surprised her that after doing this every night hadn't ruined or damaged her eyesight. Sometimes she wished she didn't have to work so much, but she knew the consequences if she didn't.

Pulling out a thick spiral notebook she began to jot down notes on the lined paper, rubbing her eyes every few minutes. It was late, but she knew she couldn't stop just yet. Opening up a drawer in her desk she pulled out a fairly large stack of papers that related to her classes, as she reviewed the materials and main focuses of each section that needed to be memorized.

The sound of something rumbling caught her attention as she dropped her pen, digging in the pockets of her dark blue jeans she pulled out her phone, holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" she responded, trying to hold back a yawn.

"I knew you would still be up, don't you ever sleep?" a woman's voice on the other side of the line asked as she laughed.

"Tea, you've known me for how long and yet you forget that I don't sleep very often." she answered back as she heard her friend sigh. "Do you know when you'll be coming back to Domino City yet?"

"I should be back this coming Monday, but don't let anyone know I want to surprise them!" she sounded so excited, after all she had been in New York studying ballet for about two years now with the occasional visits to come back home when she could. "Promise you won't tell?" Tea asked.

The woman shook her head, "you know that I haven't run into your friends out here. It's a big city and I'm a very busy woman." she told her.

"You should go out more often Iris, meeting people and making friends isn't that bad." Tea told her, but that's what she's been telling her for a long time ever since they were roommates in New York. "You know you're my best friend, and I don't want you to be so lonely out there. You just moved there last year!"

"Tea I've already explained to you that I don't really have time," she instantly regretted saying those words as she heard Tea gasp.

"Iris you really should give people a chance, I'm just worried that you'll hurt yourself in the future if you don't have anyone else in your life. I know you're still really shaken up about the accident, but I promise you my friends will be by your side just they've been there for me." she explained.

It was a lot to think about, Iris stirred the idea around in her head as she rubbed her eyes. "Look we can talk about it on Monday when I pick you up from the airport, what time does your flight arrive?"

"I think at about 3pm,"

"Ok well I'll see you then, I have to let you go I need to finish my studying." Iris told her.

"Just don't overwork your brain, I'll talk to you soon!" Iris hung up the phone after that. No matter what she always knew that Tea had a point. Iris rubbed her temples as she felt her head starting to hurt a bit at everything that was stirring around in her mind.

* * *

Hundreds of people were walking around the open spaces of the airport as Iris stood with others as they await for the people on the flight that just landed to arrive. Pulling the phone out of her dark grey denim jacket she checked the time as the digital clock on her phone read '3:09'.

"Any minute now." Iris said to herself.

"Iris!" she heard Tea shout her name as she ran threw the door, bursting with excitement. She still looked the same in a way but more mature since the last time she saw her. Although her yellow sleeveless and denim shorts did give her a sense of spunk in her opinion.

"Tea!" Both of the women hugged each other as they both smiled, "kept me waiting long enough!" Iris joked as the two began to get Tea's luggage.

"Sorry I don't control the plane you know," Tea fired back as the two laughed. "Did you really go to work wearing that?" she asked as Iris looked down at her outfit. Her black tank top and black jeans were the only things she could grab in a rush this morning since she did sleep in a bit.

"I didn't work today, besides black is always a nice color." she said, pulling her long black hip length hair over her shoulder as it hung down over the left side of her. "Besides I have the week off since it's my finals week, I've just gotta make up for it next week."

"Still working long shifts again, I swear I don't know how you do it with school. That has to take a serious toll on you."

"Oh please, did you forget that when I was still studying in New York that I worked two damn jobs and still took four classes. Either something is wrong with me or I'm invincible."

"Or crazy." Tea remarked as they giggled.

There was a moment of silence between them as they continued to walk towards the baggage pickup area. "So Tea...I've been thinking about what you told me the other night…" Iris spoke as they stopped.

"About what?"

"You know making new friends….maybe, if you're cool with it um….maybe I could hang out with you and your friends…." it was hard for Iris to say it as she didn't really know how to put it into words properly.

Tea smiled, "you really mean it?"

Her question caught Iris by surprise as she just stared blankly at her. "I didn't mean to push you to make this decision I just got worried about you, you are my friend and with you out here by yourself most of the time I just want to make sure you're not alone."

Iris grinned, "trust me this is my decision." Looking down at the pale blue carpeted ground she did start to worry. Was she ready?

* * *

Tea was seated in one of the six cushioned outdoor chairs at the large table in front of the coffee shop as she took a sip from her drink as she patiently waited, her heart was racing and her head spinning today was a big day. She could barely sleep last night due to the anticipation and what was riding on the needed success of today.

She checked her phone as no new messages were received. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long." a man's voice said above her as she eagerly jumped out of her seat, hugging him instantly. He hugged her back instantly as they shared a moment.

Looking up she gazed at his deep purple eyes that gave his face a more distinguished look, as his gold bangs framed his face. His black and purple spiked hair still remained the same as it always was like when they were kids, though she could never get use to not seeing him wearing his Millennium Puzzle around his neck but only the black strap choker around his neck. It gave him an edgy look that went well with the blue band around his upper right arm and matching blue belt that held up his black jeans.

"It's so good to see you again," she told Yugi as she gave him a peak on the cheek. Fixing her lilac summer dress they both sat down as he held her hand, "I really appreciate you guys all coming out here today." she told him as Yugi looked around.

"Everyone's excited to see you again," he told her. His voice was so similar to Atem's but also very different, it wasn't as deep but it still carried a strong sense of courage and strength. "But where is everyone?"

Tea glanced around, "I told everyone else but you to get here a bit later, there's someone I want you to meet first." she told him as she got up and ran inside the coffee shop. Yugi didn't know if this was good or bad, the way she said it didn't sound clear on how she felt.

Coming back out he saw her pulling the arm of another woman, both her hands were in the packs of her dark blue skinny years as her black v-neck shirt was scrunched up a bit from where her hands were. Her long black hair hanged in front of her split evenly on both shoulders as her bright blue eyes looked down. "Yugi this is my friend Iris, my roommate from New York." Tea introduced them. "I wanted you to meet her before the others get here."

Sitting down next to Tea, Iris still felt a bit out of place. Meeting new people was definitely a skill she was lacking. "Nice to meet you, Tea's told me a lot about you. You don't know how much it means to me to have you look out for her while she was in New York." Yugi said to her as she smiled.

"Well to be honest I was only in New York with Tea for a year, I've been living here in Domino City after that." Iris explained.

"I see, but either way I'm still glad you were there for her."

Iris shrugged her shoulders, "she was there for me. Afterall what kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there for mine."

"Well said, so tell me why-"

"Hey Yugi! Tea!" a man's voice shouted from a distance as the trio looked out towards the sidewalk as they could see a large cloud of beige dust rapidly beginning to approach them. Iris looked over at Yugi and Tea as she could see that they both knew what was coming their way.

Iris could see a man with thick dirty blonde hair in a white shirt as both the sleeves were blue, she was surprised that his strides didn't rip his dark blue jeans. He was glaring at the man running next to him as his spiked brown hair didn't seem to sway or move at the speeds they were running. The long brown coat he wore over his white shirt and black jeans almost acted like a cape.

They watched as the two were so busy staring each other down that they both missed the small ledge that surrounded the coffee shop in a semi-circle. Both of them hit the ground at the same time as instantly grabbed each other, "what the hell were you thinking Tristan!? You tripped me!" the blonde one shouted.

"No way man you tripped me Joey!" Tristan yelled back at Joey as they both looked about ready to fight right then and there.

"Would you knock it off!?" Tea told them both as they both quickly got to their feet and dusted themselves off. "I see you guys are still competitive with each other." Tea joked as both Tristan and Joey just laughed.

Iris just looked at them as she cringed a bit, she had never really encountered anybody like them before. She already knew this was going to be an interesting day. "Who's this?" Joey asked as they trio sat down.

"This is Iris," Tea introduced. "She was my roommate back in New York, but now she's going to school here in Domino City."

"Nice to meet you," Tristan said to her as she didn't know how to respond. "So how long have you been here in Domino City?" he asked.

"I've lived here my entire life, but I earned a full years tuition at the school in New York where Tea and I met. Since I was only there for a year I transferred to a college out here, and been staying busy." Iris explained.

Joey scratched his head, "I know you said you lived here your entire life, but I don't recall you going to our school when we's were still there." Joey spoke out as he couldn't recall seeing her previously.

Iris heard Tea sigh, "that's because Iris went to a different school then we did, not everyone here goes to the same place."

"She's right," Iris said, "my father thought it would be a good idea to send me to a private school here in Domino." Holding back the painful memories that were starting to rise, Iris put on a smile as she just wanted to make it through this day without having a break down. She was actually starting to warm up a bit, granted it did feel weird but even she admitted that it was a nice change of pace then her usual routine.

"Oh I see,"

"So you are you also studying to be a dancer?" Yugi asked. Iris took a sip from her coffee as she shook her head.

"No, I'm actually studying to become an accountant. I work as a teller at a nearby bank, my boss understands my situation and helps teach me so I can become a personal accountant." she summed up, even though there was more to it, but she didn't want to divulge anymore.

Joey and Tristan seemed to be in a bit of shock, but quickly shook that look off their faces. "Sounds pretty challenging." Tristan stammered as he tried to think of how many rules and numbers had to be done in order to make it in a position like that.

"I think my brain is fried trying to comprehend." Joey said painfully as he shook his head and had a big grin on his face. "Hey Iris!?" He almost jumped out of his chair as he pulled his deck from his pocket and placed it on the table. "You duel?"

Pulling out a deck of her own, Iris placed her deck on the table. "A little bit, I'm not that good but if you want to have a match for fun I'm up for it." she offered. She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't duel very often, actually barely even. Her deck was composed of some good cards, but she hadn't really dueled.

"Don't worry I'll go easy on you, we'll only have 2000 life points each. Like you said it's just for fun."

"Then let's do it."

Drawing four cards in each of their hands both Iris and Joey glanced at each other, pulling a coin from his pocket, "we flip a coin, whoever's right goes first. Your choice."

Iris barely nodded her head as Joey flipped the coin, "tails." Catching the coin, Joey slapped it on his head as he showed it to her. "Heads, look like you get first move."

"Alright and I'll start by sending out this little guy, Baby Dragon in attack mode!" Placing the card on the table vertically she saw the orange dragon he played looked definitely as it was named. "I end my turn."

Drawing a card Iris looked carefully at her hand, two monsters she knew would be hard to wipe out, two trap cards and one spell. "I play Maiden of the Macabre in attack mode, I also play the continuous spell Banner of Courage, bringing her power from 1700 to 1900. I also place one card face down."

"Looks like you don't have to go easy on her Joey, you're just trying to be nice." Tristan joked as he could see Joey's hand looked pretty good.

"Now my Maiden attacks your Baby Dragon, meaning you take 700 points of damage." Iris said as Joey removed Baby Dragon and placed it above his deck face up. "That leaves you with 1300 points left Joey."

"I feel like you tricked me alright then, I place the Spell Card Pot of Greed. It's a magic card that allows me to draw two cards from my deck." Drawing the two cards Joey pulls one from his hand, "Now I'll bring out Garoozis in Attack Mode."

"Joey can take out her Maiden with that his monster, Banner of Courage only works when she's going to attack him or his monsters." Tea whispered.

"True, but let's see what happens." Yugi said to her as they all watched.

"Your Maiden's attack is back down to 1700 which means you can say bye to your little friend." Joey said as Iris flipped up her face down card.

"Not so fast, since you've declared an attack on my Maiden you've activated my trap card Inspiration. Which gives my Maiden of the Macabre 700 attack points bringing her up to a total of 2600, so you take 800 points of damage and your monster is destroyed leaving you with 500 points." Iris explained as she and Joey put a card in their graveyard.

"Wait how? You're Maiden only has 1700, add 700 that makes it 2400."

"That might be true, but Maiden of the Macabre has an ability that whenever she destroys a monster she gains a spell counter increasing her attack by 200 points with each counter."

Iris drew a card, "And now my Maiden will attack you directly wiping out the rest of your life points."

"Just a few turns and you've already beat me." Joey said as they both put their cards back into their decks. "You're actually good,"

"Oh please I just got lucky that's all, besides I know you were just going easy on me."

"So that's what we agreed, at least I know you're strategy a bit with those cards of yours

"Tell you what Joey, next time I'll battle you for real in a real arena." Iris said.

"Why bother battling Wheeler in an arena when he can't even beat you over a cup of coffee?" a man's voice said as they all turned towards the sound of it.

Standing close by the silver buttons on his white sleeveless long coat, the sleek black long sleeve he wore beneath it really brought out its shine as Iris could clearly see some muscle definition under it. She saw that he had a few straps around his arms as they did help to show that he did seem to have strong arms and that he had few around the shins of his dark pants. A section of his brown hair was in his face as his dark blue eyes were what mainly caught her attention, by how cold they were.

Iris felt her heart pain a bit as she was still mystified by the man, then it hit her. She knew exactly who she was looking at, even the silver belt around his waist gave it away, "wait...you're...you're Seto Kaiba!"


	2. First Impression

Hello everyone! I hope you're liking the story so far! Now let's get this show back on the road!

* * *

 **Recap!**

"Why bother battling Wheeler in an arena when he can't even beat you over a cup of coffee?" a man's voice said as they all turned towards the sound of it.

Standing close by the silver buttons on his white sleeveless long coat, the sleek black long sleeve he wore beneath it really brought out its shine as Iris could clearly see some muscle definition under it. She saw that he had a few straps around his arms as they did help to show that he did seem to have strong arms and that he had few around the shins of his dark pants. A section of his brown hair was in his face as his dark blue eyes were what mainly caught her attention, by how cold they were.

Iris felt her heart pain a bit as she was still mystified by the man, then it hit her. She knew exactly who she was looking at, even the silver belt around his waist gave it away, "wait...you're...you're Seto Kaiba!"

His piercing blue eyes shot over at Iris as she could see that the angry look on his face wasn't going away anytime soon, "Kaiba! Why don't you put your money where your mouth is rich boy and duel me right now!"

Kaiba winced his eyes as he had heard Wheeler's spats about dueling him, but in the end he was never successful. "Stop your barking Wheeler I'm not here to duel you, I'm here to challenge Yugi to a duel!" Kaiba announced.

Iris looked over at Tea as she shook her head, "you can't be serious Kaiba, ever since Yugi and Atem beat you years ago you've never let it go."

"What do you mean?" Iris asked.

"The only times we see Kaiba now are because he wants to settle the score with Yugi, a few years ago Yugi was the only duelist who defeated Kaiba." Tristan explained.

"Not only that, but ever since then you've made a fool of me and I won't stop until I've beaten you once and for all Yugi Moto, so grab your deck! Unless you're afraid to finally lose to me."

"Kaiba…" Yugi started.

"None of your excuses, we're dueling right here, right now."

Iris was starting to get annoyed with his demands, she had done her research on Seto Kaiba before and had an idea that he may of had an ego due to his successful business and growth of his expanding theme park, Kaiba Land, but never thought he was this irritating.

"That's enough out of you Kaiba." Iris stood up from the table and approached Kaiba, she stood only a foot away from his as she tilted her head up to stare him the eye. Everyone could feel the growing tension between them as Tristan and Joey shuddered.

"Is it me or did she just become really scary?" Joey asked as they could see rage in her crystal blue eyes.

"What did you say to me?" Kaiba demanded crossing his arms across his chest.

"What are you deaf? I said that's enough out of you and your demands rich boy." Iris placed her hands on her hips as they could hear the anger in her voice.

"This is bad," Tea whispered as Yugi turned his attention towards her. "Iris has a really short temper, the last thing you want to do is set off the fuse." Tea described her friend's temper with a little imagery.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

"Let's just say the last time I saw her angry the guy who made her mad ended up in the hospital with a broken arm."

Joey and Tristan looked at each other, both seemed surprised that a lady her size could cause that much damage, but it did seem very possible. "Boy would I hate to be in Kaiba's place." Tristan remarked.

"Ditto."

"You've got a lot of nerve to talk to me like that, don't you know who I am!" Kaiba was irritated by this woman he had never met.

Iris sighed. "I know who you are rich boy, but I don't appreciate a jerk like you trying to push my friends around. Just because you lost a duel years ago and you can't let one defeat go."

"Look here I don't know who you are, but stay out of my way. What I do is what I do and what I decide, and no one is going to tell me otherwise."

"Well I am, Tea just got back yesterday from New York and I'm not going to let you interrupt the time she gets to spends with her friends and her boyfriend. So why don't you just drop it and go program a Yugi to duel against if you want to duel him so badly." Iris was starting to get heated as she could feel her anger slowly reaching its boiling point.

"A program isn't the same as a real person, there can be only way I can truly feel like I've defeated Yugi and it isn't with a computer but with him across the battlefield from me and seeing the look in his face when he's finally lost."

"Do you even hear yourself? You sound like a maniac, just drop it. If you want a duel then I'll duel you myself rich boy!" Iris challenged him as she held her deck in her hand.

Kaiba closed his eyes and shook his head, "defeating a novice like you means nothing to me." Kaiba said to her as Iris bit hier tongue as she watched Kaiba turn his back towards her, "you're giving me a headache with your bantering, but mark my words Yugi next time we meet we're battling and no one is going to stop me. Especially her!"

Iris watched him starting to walk away, "I have a name, it's Iris Botania!" Kaiba stopped as he glanced back at her.

"I don't care."

* * *

Sitting behind her computer Iris began crunching the numbers for a new business that opened up in Domino City, from the looks of it for the first six months since its opening it had a slow net growth but it was better then decaying. It was becoming normal that her boss, Mrs. Lancer allowed her to do more serious banking as she had walked her through much of the basics.

She readjusted the buttons on her purple button up blouse as she always liked to ensure she looked professional. She grabbed the bottom of her pencil skirt as she moved it back down to about an inch above her knee.

Iris opened a new document as she began writing an email to the owner of the business, _'ring, ring,"_ she stopped momentarily as the red button at her desk began to flash. Grabbing her headset she placed the earbuds carefully in her ears and placed the small little microphone in proximity to her mouth.

Pushing the red button, "thank you for calling New Domino Bank, this is Iris how can I help you today?" she spoke into the mic as she continued to write her email.

"I need to speak with Mrs. Lancer." a man's voice said over the phone.

"Of course sir, may I ask who's calling?"

"Look I need to speak with her now." he demanded as Iris rolled her eyes.

"Alright sir, let me put you on hold for a moment so I can see if she's available." Iris said as she hit the hold button on her machine before dialing in the numbers. "Mrs. Lancer, you have a man who wishes to speak with you." Iris said.

"Does this man have a name?"

"No ma'am, he just demanded to speak with you now. Shall I put him through?"

"Might as well I think I know who it might be."

Iris clicked a few more buttons as she returned back to her original caller, "are you still there sir?"

"Of course I am,"

His attitude was starting to get on her nerves "well, thank you for holding sir, Mrs. Lancer is available please wait one moment while I transfer your call."

Iris hit a few more buttons as she let her boss handle the caller, as she continued to work on her email. A few minutes went by as she began to re-read the email, it sounded very accurate to their financial situation as there were a few charts depicting their current growth and a few charts on where they may be losing money.

Iris hit send, as she saw the blue light at her desk starting to go off. It only meant one thing, Mrs. Lancer wants to speak with her. Putting her headset back on, Iris hit the blue button. "Can I help you Mrs. Lancer?"

"Iris I need you to come to my office now, that is if you're not busy?"

"No ma'am I'm done with the Bayside Resorts Financial reports and if I do say so myself ma'am they're showing very good financial progress." Iris said happily as she heard her boss giggle.

"Well that's great news, so would you mind coming into my office, I have a favor to ask you."

"Of course ma'am I'll be there in a minute." Iris told her as she turned her computer monitor off and placed her headset onto the hook on the wall of her space. Standing up from her desk Iris made her way to the other side of the hallway, turning the silver bar like door knob she ended into the room. "Mrs. Lancer?"

"Iris have a seat," looking over at her boss she could see a manila envelope before her. She saw in her forty year old green eyes that she was worried about something. She ran her hands through her pixie cut red hair as Iris sat down. "I'm going to be busy with meetings for the rest of the day, so I need you to deliver this to Kaiba Corp and go in my place for a one on one meeting with Seto Kaiba."

Iris's blood ran cold as she remembered what she had said to Kaiba a few days ago, she could feel a cold sweat all over her as she already knew she messed up. "Why can't you go ma'am isn't there anyway you can reschedule one of your meetings?"

"None of them, besides this will be good experience for you. Do good and you might be hired on with them," she winked. "I know you're nervous since this is a major company we're talking about here but all you're going to be doing is discussing a few questionable financial decisions and mainly the expansion of Kaiba Land."

"Expansion of Kaiba Land? Isn't it big enough?"

Mrs. Lancer shook her head, "well to Mr. Kaiba it's not, he wasn't to expand onto three more plots and make room for a new attraction and a new Kaiba Corp building. However, it will be quite costly and we still need the permits to approve the expansion. This meeting is just a discussion about the future renovation and we'll come back to it by next week once we have an estimate for cost of building and the status of the permits."

"So all I need to do is explain what you typed up in these paper?" Iris asked as she skimmed the sentences of the papers that Mrs. Lancer wrote up.

"Essentially for now, but once we have more information then we'll have a follow up meeting. And once you're done with your meeting with Mr. Kaiba you may go home for the day." she offered. Looking at the clock it was only 11 am, there was still 7 hours left of her shift. "Don't worry I'll pay you for the full day." she smiled.

"Alright ma'am I'll do it," Iris said as she stood up grabbing the manila envelope.

"Perfect I'll call to have a car escort you for the day," she said as she opened the door for Iris watching her young pupil go. "Just don't stress. You've got this."


	3. Friction

Iris looked out the window of the moving car as she could see the gated entrance to Kaiba Corp slowly starting to open. She glanced down at the envelope in her lap as she could feel her heart beating hard, she already had a feeling she blew her shot after she told off Kaiba a few days ago but now she was starting to worry about her job. She didn't know how Kaiba felt about the whole situation either, though she could only hope that they could both keep this at a professional level and nothing else.

The car passed by the two large statues of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, as they did give off a very intimidating yet powerful sense about them. There was a strange beauty about them, even if they were just statues they would be magnificent creatures to see. Iris could feel the car starting to slow down as she saw the front doors to Kaiba Corp.

Stepping out of the car Iris slowly made her way to the glass doors, making sure she had everything she needed. Just as she was getting close the glass doors slid open as she entered the building. The bright pale blue of the tiled floors gave the space an illuminating glow. Pulling her long over shoulder, she approached the front desk.

There didn't seem to be many people in the building as she had seen only two men walk past her to the elevators. It would make sense though, it could be hard to even get an appointment with anyone who worked in Kaiba Corp.

A woman with orange hair that was pinned up in a bun looked up at her, "can I help you?"

"I'm a representative of New Domino Bank, I'm here for a private meeting with Mr. Seto Kaiba." Iris responded as she felt her anxiety starting to climb. She watched as the woman reached over, holding a small white envelope.

"May I see some identification please?" Iris handed her the badge and papers that Mrs. Lancer had provided her before she left, she could see the desk attendant as she skimmed through before pressing a few buttons. "Mr. Kaiba, the representative from New Domino Bank is here. Should I send her up?" she asked.

Iris just wanted this to go well, if anything her job depended on her doing a good job today and ensuring the basics of what she knew today's meeting was about. The woman handed Iris her papers back, as she also pushed the white envelope towards her. "See that elevator right there?" The woman pointed to the only black doored elevator as the rest were a dark blue shade.

Iris nodded her head, "you'll hold the card that is in the envelope to the door, and hit the button on the very bottom of the right hand column. It'll take you up to Mr. Kaiba's floor, once you're there you'll take a left out of the elevator and just follow the hallway, his office is the last one it's not hard to miss. Make sure to knock when you get to his door." she smiled as Iris tried to remember all the directions to get to the office.

"Thank you very much." Iris thanked her as she pulled the plastic blue and black striped card from the envelope. She could see a small red sensor on the side of the elevator as she held the card up to it, the doors slid open as she carefully stepped inside. "Very bottom button on the right hand column." she whispered to herself, as she saw the unmarked button.

It was strange to see that it was the only button without any type of number or letter next to it, but she could only assume Kaiba had reasons for having it that way. Pressing the button the elevator doors quickly shut as the elevator began to make its ascent up.

As it began to grow higher Iris could see all of Domino City, the whole city was basking in the sunlight as the people down below looked like ants. It was a truly amazing site, the ocean glistened like diamonds as the gentle waves danced in beauty. Looking to the left she saw Kaiba Land, it did look like a nice place to go. "Maybe me and the gang could go there sometime." she said to herself as she couldn't recall any of her new friends having gone there.

Iris glanced down as she started to realize how high this elevator brought her as she felt her whole body go cold, she turned her back towards the window side of the elevators as she slowly tried to calm herself down. The elevator soon stopped as she saw the doors starting to open up.

She carefully stepped out into the hallway as her wedged heels clicked along the porcelain white tiled floor. "Ok so take a left out of the elevator," she recited as she made her way down the long hallway. It was strange to her that there wasn't any other offices on this floor. "Maybe this is his own personal floor," she said to herself as the hallway made her take a right turn. She continued to follow it as she could see only one door on the right hand side.

Looking at the large matte white door she could see a metal plaque with the name 'Seto Kaiba' and under it, it read 'President of Kaiba Corp'. This was the moment the one she most worried about, but she knew that she had to do it. She slowly made her hand into a fist as she knocked on the door three times.

"Enter." she heard Kaiba's voice from the other side.

Iris turned the knob as she entered into Kaiba's office. "Good afternoon Mr. Kaiba, I'm Iris the representative from New Domino Bank." Iris said as she walked to Kaiba's desk.

He was wearing a white suit with a blue collared shirt underneath and a dark blue tie around his neck. He had yet to look up at her as it seemed as he was busy looking at something on his computer. "Have a seat," he told her as she sat in the one chair in front of the desk. "Sorry about that now-" he stopped as they both locked eyes with each other.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, "Mr. Kaiba I would appreciate that we keep things today on a professional level, after all this meeting is the start of Kaiba Lands future expansion."

"You have a lot of nerve for what you said to me the other day." Kaiba said as Iris felt like it was going to be a bit rocky. "I'm not saying you intimidated me, but next time you better watch what you say."

"Don't you think I already know that, look I'm sorry for what I said that day but it was completely uncalled for that you wanted to get between Yugi and Tea's time together. I mean how would you feel if you and your girlfriend were interrupted." Iris tried to explain.

Kaiba leaned back, "I don't have to worry about that."

"You don't?"

"I don't have time for relationships, the last thing I need is someone to annoy me and constantly be in my way." he stated.

"You know that's not how a relationship works right?"

"It doesn't matter, I have much better things to worry about besides something as trivial as a relationship."

Iris wanted to punch him so badly right now, she looked down as she took a deep breath. Readjusting her hair, she looked up at him. "Alright now that we have thing settled, can we please start our meeting Mr. Kaiba?" she asked him.

Kaiba nodded his head, "fine. So what is it that you have to tell me?"

"In your regards to the expansion of Kaiba Land from what we have seen so far is there are three plots that are next to each other that would make plenty of room for your next attraction if not two." Iris started as she pulled out the plot space of Kaiba land with three square spots in blue next to it. "From my understanding you first wanted to see how much space we had to work with, correct?"

"Yes that is, so how do things look from here?"

"Well from the looks of it we are following the guidelines as there is still plenty of space for the new roads that will be build next year that it won't interfere with construction on Kaiba Land. Our next step is getting the permits that will allow us to build on those plots, we've already started speaking to the mayor about these plots and hopefully within a week we will be able to see where we stand."

"Anything else?"

"Just a couple things Mr. Kaiba, these permits will be quite costly as compared to the ones that were needed for the previous expansion of Kaiba Land and also we need to know what your ideas are to have an estimate for the overall cost." Iris explained. "Inside this envelope has what we talked about so far plus additional information." she said as she place the envelope on his desk.

"I see," Iris watched as she saw Kaiba jot a few things down on a piece of paper. "Once you have secured the permits, give me a call and we'll schedule our next appointment together. I expect to hear from you within a week, two at the latest." he said to her as he pushed the piece of paper towards her.

"Of course Mr. Kaiba, I'll give Mrs. Lancer this and-"

"No. You."

Iris was shocked. She honestly didn't know how to react, "why me?"

"You already know a lot about this project, I don't want many people involved in this. The less the better for now, as much as it is against my personal judgement I want you to be in charge of the financial aspects of this." Kaiba explained.

Now this was starting to put a lot of pressure on Iris, "you're serious? Mr. Kaiba you should know I'm only an accountant in training, it would be in your best favor to work with someone who has much more experience then I do." she wasn't saying it because she didn't want to work on this project, but she was more worried about how she would do.

"All the better reason to leave you in charge, you do need the experience don't you?" he smirked at her as she could hear that sarcastic tone in his voice. He wanted to test her, she felt like this was a bit of payback. "Besides if you mess up, you'll lose your job. Is that correct?"

"Mr. Kaiba, you can't be serious." Iris said as Kaiba stood up and looked out the window behind him.

"Look if you can't do the job, then maybe you're not cut out to be an accountant. So why don't you prove to me that you can actually do your job, that is if you can." Kaiba said as he turned to face Iris.

He was really starting to get under Iris's skin as she glared at him, "Mr. Kaiba I'm trying to keep this meeting as calm as I can, now I would appreciate if you would please respect my judgement." Iris explained to him.

"The meeting is over Iris, this is what I think personally. Now you can take responsibility for this and prove to me that you are a good accountant, or you can leave me to find someone else at a different location. And forever knowing you couldn't do your job." he remarked.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. "I'll take the job Mr. Kaiba, but after this project is complete you owe me an apology for what you said to me, and admit that I am a great accountant." Iris said.

Kaiba smiled, "fine, but just know that the last accountant I had quit after failing one simple task. So I hope you're ready for what's to come."

"Oh I'm ready, and no matter what you throw at me I can handle it."

"Glad to hear that, now," Kaiba held his hand out, "shall we call things good for the day?" he asked.

Iris hesitantly grabbed his hand as they both shook, it was a thing to do when it came to the end of a business meeting that she had noticed overtime. "I'll call you when I'm ready for our next meeting Mr. Kaiba." Iris told him, as she turned her back and walked out the door of his office.

He watched her leave as Kaiba sat back down in his chair. She was definitely a feisty one, a strong willed woman. He remembered seeing that fire in her crystal blue eyes the day that met, "this is going to be interesting."


	4. Steps

Iris sat across from Tea and the group as she took a sip from her coffee. The last few days getting things prepared for the Kaiba Land project was beginning to stress her out. Tristan and Joey both looked irritated, as Tea just shook her head.

"So that about explains everything. If I don't work on this project and do a great job then I know that Kaiba is going to have me fired." Iris looked down at her lap, "I know he's going to do something to try and throw me off, I mean it's Kaiba it has to be in his nature or something."

"Even though Kaiba is a jerk, I bet he's only trying to pull your leg. I don't really think he would do anything to try and jeopardize your career." Tea tried to reassure her, "besides you're great at what you do there's no way he could ruin it for you."

"Maybe, but don't forget Kaiba is a hard guy to please, it could be a bit challenging." Yugi added.

"That guy is hard headed, this is crazy what he's going to put you through." Tristan stated.

"But if she doesn't go through with it, she might lose her job. She's in a tight spot here." Joey said as every looked at each other. This wasn't an easy thing to deal with or try to work out.

"You know it sounds to me that Kaiba is making you more of his personal assistant than his accountant, I might not know the business side of things that well but aren't accountants only suppose to be in charge of a person's finances?" Tristan asked.

They all pondered on that thought, "you have a point Tristan, but at this point Kaiba is putting me in a tight spot here. I don't think he really cares what role I play in his project, he's just trying to see when I break." Iris assumed as the group nodded their heads.

"If that is the case, then you can't let Kaiba get to you. No matter what, you're one of the strongest people I know Iris." Tea assured her.

Iris felt a sense of warmth knowing that her friends were so willing to try and help her, "you know I really appreciate you guys coming here and talking with me about this. It means a lot to me." she told them.

"We're all friends here Iris, whenever one of us needs help we're always there for them." Yugi said. "No matter what."

"Thanks guys," Iris grabbed her stuff as she started to get up. "I should be going soon, I have to check and see if the mayor emailed me back in regards to the permits. I'll probably be calling Kaiba soon to set up another meeting."

"Do you really have to go?" Tea asked.

Iris nodded, "yea if I slip up even once I don't know what's going to happen."

"Good luck with everything," Tristan said. As Iris started to make her way back home. She still to figure out how everything else was suppose to go. This was still a major project to her, one that she barely had any experience on.

Pulling out her phone, she stopped at the light to cross the bustling streets of Domino as she logged into her work email. As the signal changed for her to cross Iris noticed a new email at the top, she opened it as her eyes skimmed over the message. "Looks like I jinxed myself." she whispered.

She could see her apartment building just two blocks away as she slowed down once again, digging into her pockets to pull out her wallet. Iris held the business card that Kaiba had given to her with his personal number on it. Entering the digits on her phone, she held her phone up to her ear.

Continuing on her way, she heard the phone ring a few times. "What is it?" she heard Kaiba say in his usual tone on the other side of the phone.

"Mr. Kaiba this is Iris, I have some news regarding the permits." she told him. Looking both ways she quickly crossed the road.

"Go on,"

"All three of the plots along with the extension of the wall around Kaiba Land have been permitted. The total for all of it has not yet been determined yet since I had just gotten the email moments ago." she explained. "I just wanted to let you know."

Kaiba was quiet for a minute, "I need you to have those number calculated by tomorrow, I expect to see you here in my office at 12 o'clock with the estimated values."

Iris shook her head as she walked into the main floor of her apartment complex, walking up the stairs. "Mr. Kaiba in order for me to do that I also need to go over with you what exactly you're planning on constructing along with a few other details."

"Fine, then just get me the estimate for the permits and expansion. I expect all of it by tomorrow." he told her.

"You know Kaiba I'm not your assistant or anything, I'm just your accountant. I'd rather keep it that way." she told him as she felt her heart beat starting to get heavy.

"You'll do what I say. Otherwise there will be consequences to pay Iris, now be here in my office at noon tomorrow." he said as he hanged up.

Iris stuffed her phone back in her pocket, "jerk." she pulled out a small bronze key as she opened her apartment door. Walking into her apartment Iris set her stuff down on the small table next to the door before locking it shut.

She made her way to her work table as she opened her laptop and pulled out a piece of paper, it didn't take her long to do the math for the permits and the mayor was even nice enough to give her an estimate for the wall extension as well.

Just as she was about to start writing her formal thank you to the mayor, Iris stopped as she buried her head in her hands. She knew so much was riding on the success of this project, but already she feared the worst if she couldn't pull through. Let alone the strange feeling in the back of her head that she could yet describe.

Walking over to her bookshelf she pulled out an old book, the red cover of the book had seen better days as the bindings of it were only being held together by hot glue. _'Tales of the Accountant'_ it was her father's very own book that he had written for her. The only one of its kind.

He had made it for her when she first expressed any interest in becoming an accountant when she was a child, wanting to follow in the footsteps of her mother. It was a book about the trials her own mother had faced when she was an accountant and how she was able to push through them. Opening the book she skimmed the pages of the 300 page book as a large section folded over.

Between the pages she saw what appeared to be a photo folded in half, "I don't remember putting this here." she said to herself as she pulled the photo from its place. She wanted to unfold it to see what lay on the laminated picture, "I don't have time for this right now, I'll look later." she said to herself as she put the photo back and closed the book.

* * *

Iris walked down the hallway of New Domino Bank as she held the finished and still warm papers in her folder. She had to talk to Kaiba about the expenses so far and establish what they were going to do next in terms of the project.

"Iris", she looked up to see Mrs. Lancer standing in the doorway to the exit where the car was waiting. "Are you holding up ok on Mr. Kaiba's project?" she asked her.

Nodding her head, "yes I am. It's very different than I had imagined any outside project to be, but I'm really happy to gain some experience from it." she answered her, trying to make sure she didn't sound so over confident.

"It's taken a very different turn then what I had expected, when Mr. Kaiba called and told me that he was making you his accountant on this project, I won't lie it made me very worried. I had tried to talk him into letting a more experienced individual do it so you wouldn't have the stress of this project on your shoulders but he refused." Mrs. Lancer explained.

"He is a very serious man, from what I can see he is very deadset on his ways and his mind does not change when he decides it." Iris told her honestly.

"Mr. Kaiba is sometimes a man that's hard to please, don't forget that if you have any problems of any kinds please come to me. You are my apprentice after all," she reassured her as Mrs. Lancer walked away.

"I will," Iris whispered as she approached the black car that waited for her outside. She climbed inside of the backseat as she watched the car pull away from New Domino Bank as it began it's drive to KaibaCorp.

Looking down at her phone she read the numbers in white, 11:42am. "Looks like I'll be a little early."

She watched as she could see them pulling into KaibaCorp's driveway, as she saw the main entrance. "Thank you, I shouldn't be more than half an hour." she told the driver as she stepped out of the car.

Walking into the building she approached the desk, "back again I see." the orange haired woman from last time greeted her. "Do you have another appointment with Mr. Kaiba?" she asked.

Iris nodded her head, "yes I do can you please let him know I'm here."

The receptionist grabbed the phone, "of course." she dialed the numbers on her phone, "Mr. Kaiba the woman from New Domino Bank is here to see you." she paused before putting down the phone. "He said it was ok for you to come on up, by the way will you be having meeting with Mr. Kaiba often?" she asked Iris.

"I believe so, he did employee me on his latest project." Iris answered her as she watched the woman dig into one of her drawers before handing her a small white envelope.

"Feel free to hold onto this, it's just a copy of the door card. Next time you're in I'll just call him and let him know you're here and you're free to just go up there." the woman explained.

"Thank you...I'm so sorry I never got your name."

"Don't worry my name is Kaya." she held out her hand.

"I'm Iris," they shook hands. "I should get going now, Mr. Kaiba won't be happy if I keep him waiting. Thanks again for the card Kaya."

Approaching the door she pulled the door card out of the envelope as she held it up to the red scanner. The doors opened as she stepped inside, pressing the button with no number or letters next to it the doors closed.

The elevator began its ascent, Iris wasn't feeling very comfortable still about this whole situation. But it wasn't a feeling a nervousness that she had felt earlier, but something else. Something that she couldn't put her finger on. She tucked a lock of her black hair behind her ear, as readjusted the rest of her long dark locks.

Iris watched the doors open as she began to walk down the familiar path she did last time, she saw Kaiba's door as it opened up a bit. A young boy stepped out, she could see he had black hair that looked to be close to shoulders. He was dressed very similar to Kaiba, wearing a white collared jacket over his purple vest with a blue tie and light dress slacks, he seemed to be fairly young she guessed about 14 or 15 years old.

The young boy noticed her, as he made his way towards her. "If you're the one Seto is expecting, feel free to step inside he's waiting for you." he told her as he seemed very upbeat.

"Thank you very much…." she stopped as she didn't want to say anything else. "How did you know?"

"I was in there with him when Kaya called, but you should hurry and get in there. You don't want to keep my brother waiting." he told her.

"Your brother?"

The boy nodded his head, "yea I'm his brother, Mokuba."

Iris was a bit shocked, she had heard that Kaiba and his brother both worked together, but she didn't expect him to be so young. Then again Kaiba was young when he inherited this company. She watched as Mokuba walked away.

Walking towards the door she turned the handle and entered into his office, "I'm here for our appointment Mr. Kaiba." she said as she approached his desk she could see that he was wearing his studded and purple strap long coat he wore the first day she met him. She pulled down her skirt as she took a seat.

"Do you have the reports and estimates for the project so far?" he asked her.

She placed the folder down on his desk and pushed it in front of him, "this contains everything so far. I still need to know what the overall project is Mr. Kaiba, otherwise it'll be hard for me in the long run to ensure the numbers add up." she told him.

Kaiba stared at her as he sighed, "if you must know I've decided on placing another Duel Stadium in the park. The one we have already has been booked out for months, plus the one already on site is due for an system update and remodel." he explained.

"So this is technically two projects in one, build a new stadium and update the old one." she assumed.

"That would be correct."

"So I need to come up with the statements and other estimates regarding this project without going over our budget...assuming we have one." she said.

"I have enough for this project that we don't need a budget."

"Alright, well Mr. Kaiba I'll need you to email me the contacts for whom will do the renovation and construction of your stadiums so I can come up with a new estimate to put in the financial report." she told him, "just so we can keep track of the finances of the projects. I'll also need the financial reports from your current stadium so I can figure out the net gain of the second stadium."

"And I assume we'll go from there once the reports are prepared?" he asked her.

"Yes, this is a big project but it needs to be taken in steps."

"Alright."

"I'll keep in contact with you if I have any further questions or when we will set up our next appointment." she told him as she stood up from her seat.

"Wait"

Iris stopped as she saw Kaiba get up from his seat, he walked towards her. "You really need to watch what you say Iris, at this point I am your boss Iris and what I tell you to do I expect you to do." he told her.

"You put me on as your accountant, but now you've placed me as your assistant. That's not the profession I'm working towards here. I would rather do what I'm training to be then what I'm not."

"Sometimes you have to do things differently, but that doesn't mean you can give me attitude."

He stepped towards her, as she took a step back from towards the door. "Don't forget I still haven't forgotten how rude you were to my friends and I the day we met."

"You were pretty rude yourself," with each step he took towards her, she took a step back until her back was against the door. "I haven't forgotten what you said to me." he placed a hand above her head as she could feel how close he was to her.

Iris's heart began to beat fast as she looked him in his blue eyes, a lock of her long black hair fell into her face. "I don't get why you let one little thing get to you, look where you are now. I know if my friends heard this they would think I'm being harsh, but you're in a far better place than anyone our age." she whispered.

Kaiba brushed her hair out of her face, as he let his hand rest against her cheek. She didn't look like any woman he had met before, especially those piercing pale blue eyes. That and her fiery attitude were a combination he had never seen. "You may have a point, but it's my pride that was destroyed. A novice duelist defeated a champion like me."

"Still it's nothing to be upset about Kaiba-".

Kaiba pulled her in, as he pressed his lips against her's. Iris's eyes widened at the sheer surprise of this. He was her first kiss, Seto Kaiba had just taken her first kiss. He pulled away from her as he saw the bright pink hue across her cheeks.

They both stood there in shock of what just happened.


	5. Stress of Work

Iris continued on her long walk home from KaibaCorp, she had told the driver who brought her to KaibaCorp that she would be walking home. Only it was try and clear her head of the event that had just occurred.

She gently placed her fingers on her lips as she could faintly feel how Kaiba's lips felt against hers own. It was out of the blue. He just did it, without even giving her an never thought that her first kiss would be from him.

Pulling out her phone she looked through her contacts as she scrolled down to Tea's name. She double clicked it and held her phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"You busy? Iris asked.

"No not really...is something wrong?" Tea asked as Iris knew she could read her better than most people.

"Look is there any way you could come over to my apartment? It's important." Iris urged her, as she stopped before the crosswalk.

There was a moment of silence, "yea sure. Why can't you talk about it now?"

Iris didn't want to tell her right now, she was still trying to process what just happened minutes ago. "It's really important so please," she begged.

"Yea sure I'll be over in a few minutes." Iris hanged up the phone as she made her ascent up the stairs of her apartment complex.

She approached her apartment as she grabbed the key from its hiding place and unlocked the door. Throwing down the spare key on the table next to the door, she shut the door.

Unbuttoning her blouse she pulled it off to reveal her blue tank top. Placing her hands on her head she began to try and figure out what just happened once again. It didn't make sense to her, not one bit.

Feeling her phone vibrate she saw a new message on the screen. Clicking on the white envelope icon it she skimmed her screen 'let's forget what happened today, be back here again tomorrow at 11am.' It was a message from Kaiba.

Iris felt like a weight was placed on her chest, after reading those words it was almost like having a spear in her chest. "Why am I feeling so upset? I shouldn't!" She said to herself.

 _ **Knock, knock, knock…**_

"Come in!" She yelled as Tea walked in. "Thank goodness you're here!" She exclaimed.

"Yea no problem, so what's wrong?" She asked. They both sat down in the coach as Iris began to think about how she would put it.

"I had a meeting with Kaiba and we got into little bit of a disagreement and next thing I know….he kissed me." She explained as Tea's jaw dropped.

Tea was in utter shock. "Are...you….serious?"

Iris nodded her head, "one hundred percent."

Tea practically jumped up when she heard it, "did he even tell you why? I didn't think it was even possible for Kaiba to be able to do something as affectionate as kissing someone. The only person he's ever cared for is his brother." she explained as she knew how cold Kaiba was, the only exception was Mokuba.

"No he didn't I just left after it happened. And he just messaged me that we should forget it happened and wants to see me tomorrow." Iris said.

"Why does he want to see you?"

Iris shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, for all I know he might just fire me because of this incident." She didn't want to begin to think about what she was going to do if he did fire her. Everything she's worked towards would go out the window. "Promise me you won't tell anyone?" Iris begged.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise. I just still can't believe he kissed you." Tea said as she sat back down to Iris. Tea could see a different look on Iris's face, one that she hadn't seen very often. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Shaking her head, "not really." Iris replied.

"Iris I know you, there is something else wrong. Just please tell me, I'm your friend." Tea reassured her.

Taking a deep breath, "the last couple of times I talked to Kaiba...it was like...my heart was beating so hard that it was about to burst from my chest. And when he kissed me...it didn't feel wrong, it felt comforting…" she admitted.

Tea was speechless at this point, never had she heard Iris talk about a guy like this. It was almost like she was a different person, even when they were studying in New York together she had seen numerous guys try to hit on Iris or ask her out, but each and every time she turned them down. She had always attributed it to the accident that Iris was in years ago that prevented her from allowing anyone to get close, but this was something far different.

"It sounds to me like you're falling for Kaiba…" she said. Iris's eyes widened as they both knew, it was the only thing that made sense to her.

"No! I can't be! Kaiba is the last guy I would ever want to be with, he's selfish and arrogant, and just an overall jerk." Iris spat, "I wouldn't be with him even if he was the last guy on Earth!"

"Well it doesn't sound like it!" Tea replied back. They were both silent for a minute until Tea placed her hand on Iris's shoulder. "Look maybe you aren't attracted to him, maybe just working with him is making you believe it." Tea theorized, "you know my friend Duke is throwing a big party tomorrow at his place, maybe it'll help clear your head." she suggested.

Iris looked at Tea, "I don't know...it's been awhile since I've actually gone to a party and besides I don't know what Kaiba might throw at me." Iris explained.

"I'm pretty sure after today things will be a little bit quiet between the two of you, but if not just tell him you need to leave early to make sure you're on top for what you need to do for this project." Tea suggested.

She did have a point, afterall maybe going and being around different people would help clear her mind. It would definitely help her forget what happened today, "ok fine I'll go."

"Awesome!" Tea jumped up from the couch, "I'll be here with the others at about six tomorrow afternoon to pick you up."

"Alright, anything particular I should wear?" Iris joked, as they both giggled.

"Just don't be to flashy," Tea laughed as she made her way to the door. "I'm really sorry this happened to you today Iris," she said as she opened the door.

"I'm just happy I have a friend like you to turn to," Iris responded back. The two hugged as Tea walked out of Iris's apartment.

Alone once again, Iris turned towards her large study desk in the corner of the room. Her phone began to vibrate as she made her way back to the couch and picked it up. She saw a familiar number on the screen as she accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Miss Iris! Finally I was starting to worry that something had happened to you!" a man's voice echoed over the phone in distress. "You mustn't go so long without calling me young lady!"

"Good to hear from you to Jameson, how's the business going so far?" she asked.

"Very good ma'am, Gregory is doing a good job of keep your father's hard work afloat!" he reassured her, as she smiled.

"That's good, my father and I knew he would be a good man to watch the business until I've decided to come back and run it myself." Iris said.

"Yes you made a good choice ma'am, however your stepmother is starting to become quite irritable with the circumstances with everything that has occurred. She is still making claims that your stepsister is rightful heir."

Iris rolled her eyes when she heard this, but it didn't surprise her. "Look tell her that if she wants to prove it that she has to have her ungrateful spawn and I to both go through a test to prove that the heir to my father's company is of Botania blood."

"Well even so, she's been combing through your father's will to find any loophole she can."

"Like that's possible, I know father made his will air tight. After all it even states in his will that the child must be born of him and his first wife, Delilah Jones-Botania. That vile woman and her spawn are not of Botania blood."

"Very true ma'am. I'm glad that you are ok, I will call you if something comes up."

"Thank you Jameson, and make sure to let Gregory know that if he is concerned about anything to give me a call."

"I will Miss Iris, goodbye."

* * *

Iris began to mentally prepare herself as she stood before Kaiba's door, she took a deep breath and entered into the room. "Mr. Kaiba I'm here for our meeting." she said as he turned his attention to her.

Sitting before him, they could both feel the tension between them. "I'm impressed by how thorough your reports have been, I'll send you the rest of the information you need by Wednesday morning." he told her.

"Thank you sir….umm, is that all you needed to talk to me about?" she asked him.

"No," Kaiba stood up as he had his back towards her as he looked out at Domino City. "You had me thinking about what you said to me a few days ago over the phone."

"I did?"

"Yes, so I've decided something. I'm not just having you as an accountant on this project," he began as he turned back towards her. "I'm making you my personal assistant."

"Your assistant?!" Iris stood up from her chair, "Mr. Kaiba, I refuse you cannot make me change what I was originally hired for. I tried to tell you this before, it's not something I'm working towards."

"True, but seeing as how you are able to handle a lot I believe you can handle a bit more work." he explained to her. "But that doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook and taking you off as my accountant."

"So you want me to work both jobs for you?"

"To put it simply so you can understand, you work for me during the day and then the rest of the evening you focus on the project for Kaiba Land." he explained. "I'm a very busy man Iris, and you look like you need a challenge, and remember you cannot say no to me."

She could feel her blood starting to boil, he was definitely trying to get under her skin at this point. "What about my job at New Domino Bank? I can't just leave! Mrs. Lance would be furious at me."

"I already called her and told her that you now work for me. You'll be finishing your apprenticeship under me." he answered her.

Iris was speechless at this point, "Kaiba you can't just do something like this! Mrs. Lancer is a woman you don't want to piss off."

"She already knows that when I decide something I don't change my mind, so unless you want to be unemployed Iris you're going to have to listen to me. I'm your boss now." Kaiba said with a smirk.

Balling up her hands into fists, Iris was fighting back the urge of just punching him square in the face. Kaiba could see that fire in her eyes burning, the same way her eyes looked the first day they met. "Fine...so what I start today?" Iris didn't have a choice in the matter anymore, if Kaiba was in charge of her apprenticeship then she had to what she needed in order to complete it. Even if it made her upset.

"You start Monday, I'll give you time to prepare yourself for your new job working for me. Be here at 8am, Roland will explain everything else to you before we get started." Kaiba briefly explained.

Iris bit her tongue as she was as furious as she has ever been before, she held back her rage. "I understand Mr. Kaiba."

"Good, now you're dismissed for the day. And don't be late to work." he said to her as Iris almost ran out of the room. Kaiba smiled, he knew she was holding back. If her apprenticeship didn't mean that much to her, then she would have just left regardless.

Sitting back at his desk, he lounged back. "Guess I'll see how long you can last, Iris."


	6. A Painful Past

Warning! This is gonna be a long one...enjoy!

* * *

Iris laid out all of her clothes on her purple sheet covered bed, finding a good outfit for the party Tea invited to her tonight was harder than she thought. Grabbing a black shimmer tank top, she quickly threw it on as she looked at herself in the mirror that was next to her bed.

"Good as it is gonna get," she said to herself as she decided on the shimmer top and her light blue shorts that came to about halfway down her thighs. "I wonder if I should do my makeup?" she asked herself, looking down at her phone she read the time, '4:53 pm'.

Iris shrugged her shoulders, it had been a long time since she had been to a party. Dressing up a bit wouldn't hurt her. Sitting in front of her black framed vanity mirror she opened the small drawer as she grabbed a few items.

Before her she placed a tube of mascara, with a black eyeliner pencil and liquid eyeliner pen. Digging around a bit she pulled out a bottle of setting spray and a powder foundation. She began powdering her face with the powder, as her phone began to ring. "What do you want troublemaker?" she sarcastically asked as she put the call on speaker.

"Haha very funny Iris," Tea said as Iris could hear the sound of wind blowing, "hey is it ok if we pick you up a bit early?"

"How much early?" Iris asked, as she began to carefully outlined her eyes with the black pencil liner.

"Like we'll be over in 20 minutes, I almost forget that we have to go pick up Joey, Yugi, and Tristan from Yugi's place." Tea explained. Iris began to work with the liquid eyeliner as she carefully did a slight wing at the edge of her eyes to enhance them a bit.

"Yea sure, I'm almost done getting ready. Just honk when you're here." she told Tea.

"Sweet! We'll see you in a bit!" Tea exclaimed as she hung up the phone, as Iris placed her phone in her back pocket of her jeans.

Iris could only smile, as she finished up her mascara before spraying her face with the setting spray. She gave herself one final examination as she felt like something was missing. Opening the drawer once again she dug around her other makeup and beauty products she kept in it as she pulled out a hairbrush and a tube of lipstick.

Pulling her hair evenly in front of her she gently brushed out any tangles that were in her hair, especially at her ends before throwing it back behind her. Opening the tube of lipstick she applied a light layer of the subtle red color to her lips. Placing it down she looked at herself again.

"It's party time!" she exclaimed to herself. Grabbing the dark purple heeled boots next to her bed she zipped them on as as they only came up to above her ankle. She readjusted herself to the slight increase in height and walked out of her room. Walking into her living room Iris grabbed her favorite jacket that was lying on the couch. Holding it in her hands she examined it to make sure that the leather portion of the jacket wasn't dirty or that the cotton sleeve didn't have any hairs or other fibers on it that showed.

Opening it up a bit she found the secret pocket she had sewn into it as she pulled out the key to her apartment and placed it in the pocket. She made sure it laid vertically in the space as she redid the two small black button that would keep it safe.

' **Honk, honk!'**

Iris ran to her window as she saw a blue convertible with the hood down outside parked along the side of the road. She could see Tea standing outside wearing a light green sleeveless button up and black shorts, with a woman with long blonde hair wearing a lilac purple corset like top with a dark leather like purple skirt.

"Oh my gosh you look amazing Iris!" Tea exclaimed as she saw her closest friend look like she was ready to tear up the dance floor with her tonight, like they use to do before.

Rushing out of the door, Iris made sure her apartment was locked before running down to the sidewalk. "Sorry if I kept you waiting," she said as the two woman smiled.

"Don't worry you didn't, by the way Iris this is Mai." Tea introduced the blonde haired woman.

"Nice to meet you," Iris said.

"Likewise," Mai responded. The woman got in the car as Mai took the driver's seat. "So Iris, Tea tells me you're working with Kaiba." Mai said as she looked back to see Iris nod her head, "I'm truly sorry you have to deal with a jackass like him."

Iris laughed, she was glad that someone else thought like her. "Well actually...he's now made me his assistant."

Both Tea and Mai looked back at her in utter shock. "When did this happen?"

"Earlier today when I went to go see him, he's now in control of my apprenticeship and if I don't do what he says I could lose it all." Iris said as both women felt terrible for her.

"Kaiba what a jerk! I can't believe he's doing this to you!" Iris could see that Tea was angry about the whole thing.

"You know it sounds to me that Kaiba is trying to push you, to see how long you'll last until you crack." Mai said, as both Tea and Iris were surprised by how much it made sense to them. "From what Tea has told me it sounds like Kaiba is trying to see how much he can push you until you give up, but I think if you stand your ground and show him he can't push you around he'll be the who gives up." Mai suggested.

"You think so?" Iris asked.

"Honey I've seen many guys try to use this trick, especially men in power. Once they see they can't break you they know they don't stand a chance." Mai explained.

"Wow..thanks Mai."

"No sweat," Mai started up the car, "now let's go get the guys!" she said as they began their drive to get the rest of the gang.

Feeling the wind blowing threw her hair, Iris felt a bit better about the whole Kaiba situation knowing that she had her friends support. But she also did believe Mai had a good point about all of this, and if it is the case she needed to stay strong until her apprenticeship was over.

Looking ahead she could see a yellow building with dark green roofs at the top and halfway down the building. At the front of it she could see the word "Game" in red bold letters, "what is that?"

"That's Yugi's grandfather's game shop, Yugi has been helping his grandfather out with the shop." Tea explained as Mai pulled the car over.

"I'm gonna go inside and get the guys, I won't be long." Tea told them as she ran into the shop as Iris and Mai stepped out of the car as they leaned against it.

"Hey Mai?" Iris looked over at Mai, "have you ever been to one of Duke's parties before?" she asked as she didn't know what to expect.

"Plenty of times, his parties are totally crazy. Trust me it'll be a night you won't forget." Mai told her, as she and Iris could see a black limo pull up behind them. "This isn't good."

They both watched as one of the doors opened as both Mokuba and Kaiba stepped out, "you were right about that." Iris whispered to her.

"Hey aren't you that lady Seto had a meeting with the other day?" Mokuba asked Iris, as he knew she looked familiar.

"Yes I am,"

"Mokuba go get your cards." Kaiba told him as Mokuba turned back to his brother and nodded before heading into the game shop. Kaiba walked towards the women, "and just what do you think you're doing?" he asked Iris as she crossed her arms. Even he had to admit that she looked amazing in her outfit, especially her eyes with the dark liner that made them pop out more.

"Like I'm going to tell you." she answered him.

"You better not be doing anything reckless." he told her.

Iris could feel her anger start to rise, "look Kaiba I'm not entitled to tell you everything that I do, so I would appreciate it if you just drop this." Iris told him as she could see that he didn't like her talking back to him.

"I told you that you need to watch that mouth of yours, otherwise there will be consequences for what you say." he warned her.

"Hey Money Bags! Lay off of her would ya?!" they all turned their attention to Joy and rest of the gang as they came out of the game shop.

"That's right I almost forgot you associated yourself with the dweeb patrol." Kaiba said.

"Would you stop calling them that!" Iris exclaimed, "they're my friends! And I will never approve of how you treat them." she told him. "Just because you don't like them doesn't mean you have to be rude to me or them."

Kaiba was shocked that she still continued to talk back to him, he looked over to see Mokuba walking out, "let's go Mokuba." he said they both made their way back to their limo. "I'll let you off with a warning Iris, the next time you talk back to me I won't be so nice." he said to her as the gang watched them drive away.

"What a jerk." Tristan said.

"No kidding, hey Iris you know you didn't have to say all of that." Joey told her, "we don't want you to lose your job because of this."

"Joey's right," Mai said to Iris. "Kaiba might be a jerk, but he is pretty serious about getting even with people."

"Don't worry, knowing Kaiba he'll probably just be upset about it for a day to two." Iris said. "Now come on, aren't we supposed to be going to a party tonight." she told them as they all smiled.

"I call shotgun!" Joey yelled as he jumped into the front passenger seat of Mai's car. Iris was a bit confused about how the rest of them were going to fit in the back of the car. "Don't worry all of you guys will fit back there." Joey reassured her.

As they climbed into the back, Tea sat on Yugi's lap as Tristan sat in the middle, leaving enough space for Iris. "Everyone ready?" Mai asked. They all nodded their heads, "it's party time!" she yelled as they all cheered as Mai took off.

They drove down the road, as they started heading towards the more secluded part of Domino City. It was a bit more quiet out in the outskirts as Iris saw that most of the houses out here were further apart from each other and gated off. It was a nice area as she could see the tall hedges that surrounded some of the properties.

It reminded her of her home that she grew up in, looking up the road she could see a few cars parked along the side. Mai pulled up to the black metal gate, as they slowly began to open. Driving up the driveway the gang could see a few more cars parked in front of a large house. They could hear the sound of music from inside, as Mai parked her car.

Stepping out they could see a few people outside chatting away. "How many people are here?" Iris asked.

"A lot, Duke usually invites a lot of people to come." Tristan said as they all walked to the front door, Yugi pushed the door open as they stepped inside. Before them was a staircase that lead to the second floor as more people were on there, but it also acted as a divider. On both sides of the stairway the spaces on the left and right side had multi-colored light dancing around, from what Iris could see there was a disco ball in each room that helped reflect the lights.

"Looks like Duke went with your idea afterall Joey," Yugi said as the group made their way the stairs. Iris was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable as she could see a few of the guys there checking her out.

"Gotta admit turned out better than I thought," Joey smiled.

"Oh please I was the one who helped you for it, so the credit is partially mine." Mai said as Joey glanced at her, they both stopped as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Admit it," she sang.

"Alright, alright you're right." Joey caved.

"Somethings never change," Tea said, as they pushed open the doors to another room. Iris looked around as it was a personal bar and lounge. Along one of the walls was a display of different bottles of wine, each row corresponding to its type. She and others sat themselves down at the long bar as she saw different tables that most people were congregating at.

A man wearing a black vest with a white shirt underneath came over to them, he had salt and pepper hair as he adjusted his glasses. "What would you folks like?" he asked them.

"A purple haze for me," Mai said.

"The usual boys?" Tristan asked, as Yugi and Joey nodded their heads. "Three Americano's for us," Tristan ordered.

"I'll get an Appletini, what about you Iris?"

"A strawberry daiquiri for me please," the gentleman nodded his head as he turned towards the large cabinets behind him. Each one was filled with different kinds of liquor, some of them even looked like they were very exotic and aged ones. "Wow Duke sure knows how to stock up."

"No kidding, you know Yugi might be the King of Games, but Duke is the King of Parties!" Joey laughed, as a man approached them.

"I'm glad you see it that way," he said. His black hair was held up in a ponytail with a red and black diamond headband around his head. Underneath his green eyes on the left side he had a black line that went down his cheek. Iris could see he had a dice earring on his left ear as well. He pulled out a dice from his red sleeveless vest that was over is back shirt. He flicked the dice towards Joey as he caught it in his hand.

"3," Joey said.

"You know what that means," the man said as Joey threw the dice back to him before he shoved it into the pocket of his black jeans.

Joey froze, "oh come on Duke! Not three shots of that stuff!" Joey freaked.

"Relax, relax...maybe 2," Duke joked as he turned his attention towards Iris. "Well hello, hello who are you?" he asked as he made his way towards her.

"I'm Iris," she introduced herself.

"This is our new friend that we were telling you about," Yugi said as Duke snapped his fingers.

"Oh cool, it's nice to finally meet you." he said as he took a seat next to Iris, "Bradley, scotch on the rocks please," he asked as the man looked back and Duke and nodded his head. "They tell me you're studying to be an accountant." he said to her.

Bradley places the drinks before them, as the gang starts talking. "Yea, but I'm now employed by Kaiba to be his personal assistant." she told him as Yugi and guys looked over at her.

"When did this happen?" Yugi asked.

"This morning, he told me that not only does he want me to be his assistant but also to continue working as his accountant." she told them. She could see the look on the guys's faces.

Taking a sip from her drink she could tell that the guys were speechless, "what the hell is Kaiba planning?" Tristan asked as he took a big gulp of his Americano. "Something is up with Kaiba, ever since you started working for him he's not the same." he pointed out.

"No kidding, something is up with him." Joey agreed.

"He's just trying to see how long she'll last until she breaks," Mai said. "Like I told Iris earlier, men like him will do that so they can show their power."

Tea nodded her head, "yea but it's messed up that he's taken control of your apprenticeship, now you'll have to do what he says."

"He does?!" Joey questioned.

"Yes," Iris said, almost sounding like she was defeated.

"Dat Rich Boy has gone too far!"

"So what are you going to do Joey?" Mai asked him, "you know we can't do anything, except stay supportive of Iris. As long as Kaiba has her apprenticeship he controls the cards, and the only way to take Kaiba down is for Iris to stay strong until she's completed her apprenticeship." Mai explained.

"But still…." Tristan said.

"Guys don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Now come on let's just forget about Kaiba for one day and just have fun." Iris suggested as she and the gang held up their drinks. "To our friendship!" she cheered as they all gulped down their drinks.

"Ready for some dancing?" Tea asked, as Iris nodded her head as they made their way down to the dance floors. Finding a space on the dancefloor the gang let their bodies groove to the music as Tea and Iris both synchronized a few times as they both remembered the routines they did when they had dance class together back in New York.

Joey and Tristan were going at eachother with dance battles so they could prove who was the better dancer, as Yugi tried to stay out of it. Iris couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun. 'So this is what it's like to have true friends,' she thought to herself as she reflected back for a minute to her past. There was so much that had happened to her that she never told anyone, 'I think it's time...that I told them everything.' she mentally decided.

The gang continued to dance for what seemed like hours, as the party slowly started coming to a close. It was so late in the night, as almost everyone who was there before them had left. Thanks to Duke's suggestion the gang sat outside the fire pit behind the house as they were joking around.

Iris realized she didn't look down at her phone once she left her apartment as she pulled it out from her pocket. She saw she had one message on her phone, opening it she saw it was from Kaiba, "remember don't do anything reckless." She didn't bother answering him back as she put her phone beside her.

"Yea know something just hit me," Tristan said as she could see he was a bit groggy. Probably from one to many drinks. "We don't really know much about you."

"Well...I kind of thought maybe it was about time I told you guys more about me." she admitted.

"You know you don't have to unless you're ready," Joey spoke as he leaned over rubbing his head. "We don't want you to tell us if you don't want to."

Iris shook her head, "no I want to tell you guys and besides you guys are my friends." she reassured them as she took a deep breath. "When I told you guys that I went to a private school because my dad preferred it...I was only telling part of the truth, the real reason he sent me was because I'm the heiress to his estate and company, and that I belonged in a school that matched my social class." she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

"My mother and father worked together to create Botania Industries, it's a company that's main focus is computer software engineering, today a lot of what my father developed is used in a large majority of computers." she told them.

"So you're rich to then?" Mai asked.

"Not necessarily, even though I'm the heiress to my father's company I have decided to leave it in the hands of his Vice President at the time. He's only ensuring that the business will be safe until I take over it myself." she told them.

"You knew this Tea?" Yugi asked her as she nodded her head. "So does your mother help run the business too?"

Iris shook her head, "my real mother died from an illness when I was a young child. When I was five, my father remarried, but the woman he married is and will always be a gold digger. She is just a pure evil woman and her daughter is proof of it, I'll make sure she doesn't touch my father's fortune."

"What do you mean?" Duke asked.

"She would constantly ask for money from my father to spend on her and her daughter from a previous marriage, she would buy expensive cars, jewelry and wanted to go on trips around the world. She would always treat me like I was just that child, and spend most of her time with her little spawn." Iris explained.

"Wait….Iris," Mai started. "What happened to your father?" everyone's eyes widened as they were silent. Iris's head dropped as tried hard to fight back her tears. "Iris… I'm so sorry." Mai apologized.

"I had finished school early at the age of 16," Iris said, as her voice sounded shaky. "My father wanted to take me on a year long trip to congratulate me on all my hard work. But on the way the airport we were in a terrible car accident." Iris wanted to stop but she knew she needed to let it out at this point, it would only hurt her more. "The other car hit my father's side, all I can remember is hearing my father saying I love you and then things went black."

"Iris…" Tea whispered her name, she knew how hard it was for her to talk about this.

"I just remember waking up in the hospital, my right arm was broken and some minor cuts and bruises. But I only sustained such little damage, because my father….he….he gave his life so I could continue to live mine. His assistant, whom I'm still in contact with told me that they said my father was dead on the scene."

They were all speechless, "Iris...we're so sorry you had to endure something like that." Joey said to her.

* * *

Kaiba sat the edge of his bed, as he pulled his phone away from his ear and hanged up the call from Iris. After hearing his phone go off he didn't know if it was an intentional call, but after hearing what she just said he didn't know what to make of it. He knew he couldn't bring this up with her.

Laying back on his black silk sheeted bed, Kaiba couldn't help but feel sorry for Iris. He understood her pain.


	7. First Day

A couple of days had gone by since the night of Duke's party, as Iris was about to make her way to KaibaCorp for her first day as Kaiba's assistant. She felt good finally telling her friends about her past, they were much more understanding than she imagined. She brushed off any hairs that could be on her black skirt or her blue button up as she took a deep breath.

As she walked out of her apartment she saw a black limo parked outside, it looked like the same black limo that Kaiba was in. A man stood outside, he was wearing a black suit with a pair of dark glasses over his eyes. She could see a silver streak along the sides of his black hair, "Miss Iris, I'm Roland." the man introduced himself.

"So why are you here? I was just on my way over to KaibaCorp." she told him, as it was already 7:21 am.

"Mr. Kaiba has requested that each morning I will pick you up to take you to his manor, along with that I have this for you." he handed her a small three ringed binder as it was already filled with schedules and other papers. "That there is his schedule book for the next two weeks, Mr. Kaiba has requested that you have this with you and these."

Holding out her hand Rolan placed an bluetooth earpiece, a small black bracelet with what appeared to be a small screen and a new phone. "What are these?" she asked.

"Since you'll be with Mr. Kaiba for a majority of the day he has requested that you also have these, that you way you will be able to make any changes to his schedule. Mainly it'll just be used to schedule, or cancel any of his appointments." Roland explained as Iris placed the earpiece in her ear and slipped on the black bracelet. "The phone has all the main numbers programmed in it so you won't have to worry about it, any new contacts that need to be added will be sent to that phone in the form of an update."

"Interesting," she said as Iris pulled half of her hair up and formed it into a messy, but cute bun. "Now that everything is settled, shall we be going now?" she asked Roland as he nodded his head.

Opening the door to the limo, Iris climbed in as she was impressed by the space. It was fairly large as she stretched out her legs. Looking to her right she saw what appeared to be a little mini bar, 'not bad' she thought. Roland shut the door as he went up to the front of the car.

Feeling the limo move Iris opened up the binder, "alright what is first?" she asked herself as she scrolled down to the date. "9:15am- Test run of the updated duel disks. Not a bad way to start the morning." she said.

She watched as the drove down the sleepy streets of Domino City, as they were going up a windy road. She could barely see the large gate as it was opening up, as the limo continue on its drive up she couldn't help but be amazed by what she saw.

It was huge. From the front of the house it appeared to be about two stories tall, there appeared to be a balcony above the main entrance of the house on the second floor. There were numerous arch shaped windows that were spaced out with designed metal frames that were about a quarter of length of the window. She could see light blue curtains from behind the windows that were pulled back, as the whole mansion looked to be constructed of large white polished bricks.

The limo came to a stop as she could see Roland outside, before opening the door. "This way Miss Iris, Mr. Kaiba wishes to have a word with you before we head to KaibaCorp." she nodded her head as she followed Roland up the porcelain white stairs before standing at the large dark wooden doors.

She watched as he turned one of the decorative bar like knobs before pushing it open. "Follow me," he said as she followed him inside. Upon stepping in she saw a large crystal chandelier, adorned with hanging rows of crystals and small circular jewels, above the light grey carpeted staircase. Roland walked up the stairs with Iris following behind him as she saw a few doors down each of the ways at the top of the stairs.

Looking over the rails she could see how far of a fall it was from the second floor to the first, and that alone gave her the shivers. Roland stood before a large door as Iris could see a few doors down the other hallways, "Mr. Kaiba is in here." he said, "I will be at waiting at the main entrance when we're ready to leave." he told her before walking away.

Grabbing the doorknob, Iris turned it as she entered into what appeared to a study. Two large bookshelves stood across from each other as they almost reached the ceiling, they were both filled to the brim with books of numerous subjects. Looking up she saw a another chandelier that looked very similar to the one in the main entrance.

"So you made it," she heard Kaiba say as she saw him finishing up paperwork at a large mahogany desk. He wore his white studded jacket again, as she noticed he occasionally wore suits. "Did Roland get you set up with everything?" he asked her.

Iris nodded her head, "yes sir, and already on your schedule the first thing you have this morning is to test your updated duel disk." she told him.

"Just to be clear, you better be prepared for everything that's going to happen from this point on." he warned her.

"I understand sir," she responded.

"If you slip up even once, you'll be paying for it."

"I know sir," she said, as she already was feeling nervous about having to be his assistant.

Finishing the last of his paperwork, Kaiba grabbed his suitcase and placed the documents inside of it. Walking over to Iris he looked down at her, as she looked up at him. "You ok?" he asked.

She was surprised that he asked her such a question, maybe it was just too early for him to start being a jerk. "To be honest sir I'm a little tired, but it's nothing to worry about."

"Just don't complain to me later about it," he said, "now let's get going." they both walked out of the study, as she quickly followed behind him.

As they walked out towards the car, they both saw Roland as the door was already open. Kaiba signaled for Iris to go in first as he followed and sat beside her as Roland shut the door. "What are you doing here?" Iris turned her attention to Mokuba as he sat across from them.

"Iris is going to be working as my personal assistant from now on," Kaiba told him.

"Good, it's about time you had someone help you with your schedule." he told his big brother with a smile, "hopefully having a little weight off your shoulders will make things easier for you." Mokuba said optimistically. "Promise me you'll help me brother," Mokuba said to her.

Iris smiled. "I'll do the best I can."

"You'll have to do better than your best." Kaiba said to her.

It was so strange to Iris, here was Seto Kaiba, a cold man who is more than determined to make sure things go his way. And then his younger brother, Mokuba, who was more optimistic and from what she could guess was more outgoing than him. They acted so different from each other.

She listened intently as Mokuba and Kaiba were discussing the newest updates to their products and Mokuba throwing out a few new ideas for what they were hopefully planning on developing. They were both talking professionally, but she couldn't help but notice Kaiba smile when Mokuba was onto a good idea. He truly looked proud of his younger brother.

Once they arrived to KaibaCorp things were none-stop, as she had to be with Kaiba for numerous meetings he had with the heads of each department and a few last minutes one's he was able to fit into his day and the testing of his updated duel disk. Iris already knew how hard it was to be the President of a company as she had done the same things he's doing before she left to finish her schooling.

They had probably left KaibaCorp a few times in one day to run a few errands and one outside meeting. As their day went on Iris began to wonder how Kaiba could manage such a busy schedule like this, and this was just for one day.

As she placed check marks to the things on the schedule they finished, she noticed that the sun was already starting to set. She looked back at his schedule as there was nothing left for him to do for the day.

Returning back to his office, she placed a few papers before him. "Here are the documents you needed printed Mr. Kaiba, and according to your schedule you don't have anything else scheduled for the rest of the evening." she told him, as he took the papers and glanced over them.

"Good, I have one last job for you." he said to her as Iris was already exhausted from this day already, her feet were aching, the earpiece she had started to make her ear sore and her eyes were feeling like they were full of lemon juice. "Drop Mokuba back off at our home, and let Roland know that once he drops you off to return back. Let him know I'll be done at about eight." he told her.

"Of course sir," Iris spoke to him as she made her way to the door.

"Iris," she turned her attention towards him. "Tell me, how does your family feel about you working for me?" he asked her, as she was lost. She didn't know how to answer that question.

"Both my parents are glad to see me working a very respectable job sir, thank you for asking." she answered him, knowing that she was lying. Iris wasn't going to tell him about the fact that her parents were dead. She didn't trust him enough yet.

"I see,"

"Goodnight Mr. Kaiba, I'll see you tomorrow." she said to him as she walked out of his office. Kaiba knew she wasn't telling the truth, but he promised himself that he wouldn't push it with her. Afterall he was still trying to process what she had told the dweeb patrol a few days ago.

Though Kaiba did know one thing, he understood her pain better than anyone.

* * *

Arriving back to her apartment Iris practically collapsed on her couch as she still took out her earpiece and bracelet. Prying off her shoes she laid back as she was drained from her chaotic day. So much walking and yelling, especially yelling she felt like her ears were going to fall off.

Feeling one of her phone's vibrate she pulled them both out to see that her personal phone was going off, hitting the accept button she held the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Iris!" Joey yelled as she could hear the rest of the gang in the background.

"What's up?" she asked as she managed to sit up on her couch.

"We got invited to go to this big ass party Saturday night, you wanna come?" he asked.

"There's gonna be dancing and drinking, and it's gonna be at the beach!" She heard Joey exclaim.

"Yea we're all thinking about getting hotel rooms for the weekend there, you gotta come honey, please?" Mai begged.

She rubbed her temples as she could feel a headache coming on. "Joey I work for Kaiba everyday except Sunday, there's no way he would let me ditch work." she told him, but it did sound like a fun party to go to. She looked over at the binder, "actually give me a minute."

Flipping through the pages she looked at Kaiba's Saturday schedule, she saw only two meetings he had and they were both in the morning followed by an event he was going to that he wouldn't be back from until Sunday night. Although it did look odd to her that it didn't specify what kind of event it was.

"Well looks like Kaiba isn't busy on Saturday, after we finished everything we had scheduled for today he just let me go home." she told them.

"That better mean you're coming with us." Yugi said.

"Come on ya know you wanna!" Joey said as Iris smiled.

"Alright, alright I'll go with you guys I've just gotta be back by Sunday night ok?" she told them as she could hear the gang cheer. "Also Tea I'm borrowing you before we leave, I've gotta do some beach shopping." she joked.

"Don't forget me, I'm joining in!" Mai exclaimed.

"Alright it's settled you're going!" Tristan yelled.

"Ok guys I'll talk to you later," Iris hanged up the phone as she couldn't help but smile. If the rest of the week was like today, a party would be the type of thing she needed in order to feel like it was a job well done.

Getting up from her couch, Iris changed out of her work clothes into her night clothes that consisted of a pair of thin but baggy black pants and an oversized green shirt. Returning back to the living room she grabbed her phone to make sure her alarm was set for tomorrow. She saw a new message from Kaiba, 'good job today.' he messaged her.

"Wow he's actually nice," Iris said to herself as she decided to respond back. 'Thanks! I didn't want to disappoint you.'

Going to her room she laid down on her bed as she saw another message, 'I'm glad you didn't.' she read.

Iris was starting to get a bit curious though about the event in his schedule. "Curiosity killed the cat," she whispered to herself as she typed the message. 'Can I ask you something?' she sent it as it wasn't even a minute before he responded back.

'This better be good'

'It's just in regards to your scheduled you have an event on Saturday that you won't be back from until Sunday night...is that something important?' she messaged him.

This time his response took awhile, but she finally felt her phone vibrate. "All you need to know is after 1pm I won't be needing you,' he answered her.

"Well at least I got my answer," she said before she saw another message from Kaiba. 'Why the curiousity?'

'It just seemed odd to me, that's all.' she responded back, before typing a new message. 'Goodnight Mr. Kaiba, see you tomorrow'

Before she could place her phone down on the night stand she felt it go off again, 'Night.' Iris couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach, it was strange that he was actually communicating with her but it felt somewhat joyous as well.

"Maybe….he really isn't such a jerk," she said to herself outloud, but she remembered what Tea had told her, that she could possibly be falling to Kaiba. Shaking her head, "no, there's still no way I'm falling for him." but after saying those words she couldn't help but feel like it was wrong to say them.


	8. A Card He Hates

Iris walked out of her apartment as she could see Roland step out of the limo, "good morning Miss Iris, from my understanding Mr. Kaiba doesn't have a very busy day today." he said to her as she nodded her head.

"Mr. Kaiba only has two meetings today, and then afterwards he will be gone for most of the weekend." it was after she said those words that she remembered that Kaiba had a very important meeting or event to go to. "Roland will you be joining Mr. Kaiba for this event he is going to?"

Roland nodded his head, "yes as his right hand man, I will be there to make sure he and Mokuba will be safe."

"Safe?" Iris questioned as she stepped into the car.

Roland looked down at her as he knew she was waiting a response. "That is all I can say on the matter." He shut the door as Iris could feel them starting to move, she reviewed Kaiba's schedule for the day. Pulling out the earpiece as she placed it carefully in her ear, and slipped on the bracelet.

Feeling her phone vibrate she pulled it out as she looked to see a message from Yugi, 'Do you know if Tea and Mai are going to pick you up today?' he asked her.

'Yea they are, why?' she sent him.

She could see the car beginning to make its way towards Kaiba's estate, she looked down at her phone, 'Do you think it would ok if Serenity got a ride with you guys?'

'Probably, just message Tea and Mai and make sure it's cool with them.' she answered, before quickly hiding her phone in the pocket of her pants as Kaiba and Mokuba climbed inside of the limo. Iris felt her heart beat faster as Kaiba sat himself close to her.

"Good morning gentlemen," she greeted them as she saw a smile on Mokuba's face as Kaiba just glared at her.

"Morning Iris," Mokuba responded as she saw him open his laptop.

She heard the sound of bells chiming as she could looked down at her bracelet, there was an incoming call. Tapping the small screen on the screen, "Thank you for calling KaibaCorp, how can I help you?" she said.

"Yes I have an appointment with Kaiba-boy this morning at 10, is there anyway I can come in a bit earlier?" a man asked, he sounded awfully joyful. It was foreign to hear anyone call Kaiba, Kaiba-boy.

"Of course sir, let me just check," she told the man as she placed the call on hold before opening the binder. Scrolling down she could see that the 10am appointment Kaiba had was with a man named Maximillion Pegasus. "Mr. Kaiba?" she got his attention as he fixed his eyes on her. "Mr. Pegasus is calling regarding your meeting with him today, he wants to know if he can come earlier than he was scheduled."

Kaiba pinched the space between his eyes, "tell him I can put him at nine, but no earlier than that."

"Yes sir," she said. Taking the call off of hold, "are you still there sir?" she asked.

"Why yes I am my dear," he answered.

"I can put you in at nine, but no earlier than that." she told him.

"Marvelous, let Kaiba-boy know I'll see him then!" he said as he hanged up his line.

"Wait…." Iris knew she had heard that name before somewhere, "Maximillion Pegasus...the creator of the duel monsters game and President of Industrial Illusions?" Kaiba nodded his head. "I didn't know you worked with him…"

"It's just a simple business meeting, nothing more." he stated as Iris wondered why Kaiba's attitude towards Kaiba almost seemed worse than how he acted in front of her friends.

"Understood." she whispered, as the car stopped. Roland opened the door for them as they got out.

Walking inside they could see Mokuba branch off from them, "I'll go ahead and get started on the designs for the new duel arenas," he said to them as Roland followed behind them using a different elevator than they were.

"I didn't know you also involved Mokuba in this project," she said to Kaiba as they made the ascent towards his office floor. She looked up at him as his arms were crossed in front of his chest as he seemed to be concentrating by the look in his eyes, "Mr. Kaiba?" Iris tried to get his attention.

He glared at her as she felt her blood run cold, as she took a little step away from him. "Iris what I have told you about annoying me with topics you don't need to know about." he stated to her as she began to shake.

"I'm not trying to annoy you sir, I'm just curious." she tried to tell him. By the look on his face, that wasn't the right answer.

"Curiosity killed the cat, and let this be a warning," he warned her. Kaiba placed his hand on her cheek, "next time there will be consequences." Iris remembered how Kaiba had acted like this the first time he kissed her.

"Kaiba?" He got closer to Iris as the look in his eyes changed, he placed his other hand against the small of her back as he leaned closer to her. Iris arched her head up as she felt Kaiba's forehead rest against her own. Feeling her heart beating faster and faster, Iris closed her eyes, she could barely feel Kaiba's lips against her own, Iris wasn't going to fight it she was going to let it happen.

The elevator stopped, as Iris and Kaiba pulled away from each other. Touching her cheeks, Iris could tell that she was still blushing as Kaiba stepped out. "Let's go," he told her. She followed quickly behind him, as he abruptly stopped to look back at her. "And what happened in there, didn't happen." he said.

Iris felt a pain in her chest, just like last time he wanted to forget. Nodding her head she quickly followed him into his office. "Mr. Kaiba have you sent me the documents I requested regarding the expansion and remodel of Kaiba Lands Duel Arenas?" she asked him, as he sat down at his desk.

"Not yet, I'll be sure to get it to you before I leave this afternoon." he told her, as she nodded her head. "But now that you bring that up, tell me, what do you have in your report?" he demanded.

Iris sat down, "well sir, from what I have so far this entire remodel and expansion is going to be close to a million, estimates haven't been calculated yet because I want to make sure the numbers will be pretty close to what we will be looking at when this project begins." she explained to him.

"Not too bad, I want the reports and estimates by Thursday." he told her as she nodded her head.

"Of course Mr. Kaiba." She was glad he gave her a bit more time then she had expected her would. When she got back from the party tomorrow she knew she had to get started on it.

Hearing the phone ring, Kaiba grabbed it, "what is it?" he didn't look very amused as he took a deep breath. "Just tell him to wait there, I'll have someone down." he said before hanging up the phone. "Iris, Pegasus is here, call Roland. I want you both to escort him up here." he told her.

"Yes Mr. Kaiba." She responded before looking through her work phone, as she left Kaiba's office. She heard the line ring once before he picked up, "Roland it's Iris, Mr. Kaiba has requested that both you and I bring Mr. Pegasus to his office. He's waiting for us in the lobby." she told him before hanging up.

Walking back into the elevator she made the descent back down, as she saw it beginning to reach the bottom floor. As the doors opened she stepped out, as she walked over to the front desk towards Kaya. "Hello Miss Iris," she greeted her.

"Hello Kaya, do you know if Roland is down yet?" she asked her, as the woman shook her head.

"No not yet," she answered. "Oh by the way, this came for Mr. Kaiba today, can you make sure he gets this," she said as she handed Iris a white envelope that was addressed to Seto Kaiba, but had no return address.

"I will thank you," she took it, and placed in one of the pockets of the binder. "Where is Mr. Kaiba's appointment?" she asked.

Kaya glanced towards the entrance doors, "right there." Iris turned around as she saw a man standing there with a few bodyguards standing behind. His long silver hair covered the left side of his face as he wore a strange almost red velvet like suit with frilly white collar that had a black thin tie wrapped around it into a bow. In his hand he held a silver briefcase.

"Here goes," Iris whispered as she approached them. She heard the elevators open as Roland stepped out, "good morning Mr. Pegasus, Mr. Kaiba is waiting for you in his office." she said to him. As Roland opened the elevator, both Iris and Pegasus stepped in.

"Hold it," Roland said to the other guards, "Mr. Kaiba only wishes to speak with Pegasus. Pegasus's guards looked angry with being unable to stand by their boss.

"Don't worry, I won't be long." Pegasus told them, as Roland stepped in. Iris pushed the button as they made their way up. "I see some things never change with you." Pegasus joked at Roland before turning his attention to Iris, "but I do see a change, tell me my dear," he got her attention as Iris turned towards him. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Iris, I'm Mr. Kaiba's assistant." she answered him.

"My, oh my, you're Kaiba-boy's assistant," Pegasus said. "You poor thing, I can only imagine the stress you must endure working with him." he told her.

"Watch what you say about Mr. Kaiba," Roland warned him. The doors opened as Iris lead the way.

She knocked on Kaiba's door before opening it, "Mr. Kaiba, your 9am appointment is here." she announced as she and Pegasus stepped inside as Roland stood on the other side of the door.

"My, my Kaiba-boy things certainly have changed around here since I last saw you." Pegasus said to him as Iris stood closeby to Kaiba. "From what I hear, KaibaCorp is booming with success and to my surprise you have a lovely assistant by your side." he said.

"Is this really all you wanted to speak with me about?" Kaiba asked him, "because if it is you're just wasting my time." he said to him as Pegasus placed his suitcase on Kaiba's desk.

"Come now Kaiba-boy you don't have to be so rude," Pegasus said as he opened up his suitcase and turned it towards Kaiba and Iris, they both could see new duel monsters cards that they had never seen before. "These are my newest cards that I have created for my future tournament,"

"Future tournament?" Iris asked, as she stepped over to Kaiba to get a better look. There were angel looking cards, and reptilian one, along with warriors and magicians. Magic and trap cards that she had never seen before until now.

"Yes, but first let me tell you that these cards are very unique cards that I've specifically designed for my tournament." Pegasus told them.

Kaiba looked away from the cards, "so what does this have to do with me?" Kaiba asked him.

"I just want you to consider it for now, but I want you to not only be apart of my tournament, but also design a brand new duel disk for it." Pegasus told them. "In exchange you can have of the cards here that you like."

"And what makes you think I would do either of those things?"

Pegasus shrugged, "well there is a possibility that I'll send an invite to Yugi-boy, you have a score to settle with him. Correct? Well why not settle it at my tournament?"

"Mr. Pegasus, we've just updated our duel disks, and have redesigned them as well. In order for us to that again it will take some time." Iris told him.

"Very true my dear, but I know that Kaiba-boy's company would be able to pull it off."

"But still-"

"That's enough Iris," Kaiba cut her off as she saw that he was thinking about it.

"So what do you say Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus asked.

Even Iris had to admit that Pegasus was onto something, she that Kaiba wanted to beat Yugi and by tempting him with a tournament and telling him Yugi might be there it could be enough for him to agree upon it. "I'll think about it Pegasus," Kaiba said as he closed the briefcase before turning it back to Pegasus.

"Very well then Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said as he grabbed his briefcase. "Oh and take this my dear," Pegasus looked at Iris before throwing her a card as she caught it. "Ta-ta for now!" Pegasus cheered as he stepped out of Kaiba's office.

"He sure is eccentric," Iris said as she looked at the card Pegasus threw her. She could see that it looked like a mini-version of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but more cartoon like. "Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon?" she whispered as she showed it to Kaiba.

"He knows how much I hate this thing!" Kaiba yelled.

Iris carefully tucked it into her pocket, "guess I'll hold onto it then." Snapping her fingers, "I almost forgot," she said as she pulled out the envelope that Kaya had given her. "This came for you today Mr. Kaiba." she handed him the envelope as she watched him rip it open.

He began to read it, "who else do I have a meeting with today?" he asked her as he still kept his attention on the letter.

Opening the binder, "it says here that you have another meeting at eleven with a Mr. Char," she told him. "After that you just have that event to go to today." she told him.

"Iris you're done for the day." Kaiba said to her as she was shocked by what he said.

"Excuse me?"

"Were you not paying attention? I said you're done for the day, go home." he told her, as she set the binder down on his desk.

"Mr. Kaiba, I've been by your side for each of your meetings this week and have helped you with your work, I don't understand why you would send me home now." she told him as it was still early in the morning that they had a lot of work to do still.

"This meeting is one I don't want you be in with me," he told her as she saw the serious look in his eyes. "There is also some personal work I need to get done, so just go home already." he told her.

Iris was starting to get infuriated. She took a deep breath, "fine if that is what you want sir, then I'll leave you for the day. I'll see you Monday." she told him as she walked out of his office.

Kaiba watched her leave, as he shook his head. He had been dreading this meeting with Char for a long time now. It had years since he had last seen him hanging around with his stepfather, he was his business partner after all. Char reminded Kaiba of his stepfather, which he hated about him most.

In all honesty Kaiba wanted to forget what KaibaCorp use to be, but with those who still remembered what it was like before it was had for him to forget. He knew Char would bring it up when he saw him today. Just one of the many reasons he didn't want Iris involved in the meeting.

He looked out the window as he saw Iris walking away from the building, he already knew that he was starting to fall for her. He couldn't deny it anymore. She was starting to become someone of importance to him. But he knew that no matter what he felt about her he couldn't let her to close.

"The last thing I want to do...is put you and my brother in harm's way." Kaiba whispered to himself as he watched Iris escape from his view.


	9. Talks on The Beach

Here comes another update guys! Please don't forget to review I love reading what you guys think, now let's get back to the story!

* * *

"Iris let me tell you, having to work with Kaiba for a week I'm surprised you haven't snapped on him yet." Mai told her, as she, Tea and Joey's sister, Serenity were looking around the clothing store. "What do you think do you guys think it looks cute?" Mai asked as she held up a one piece purple swimsuit that had some slight shimmer near the hip region and along the thin shoulder straps.

Tea glanced at it, "I think it looks nice," she answered as she returned to looking at the rack full of colorful swimsuits.

"Why does it have to be purple?" Iris asked as she found a similar one in blue, "I think this color would suit you better." she told her as she handed her the exact same piece.

Mai looked at, "worth a shot, besides this one might go better with my eyes." She cheerfully said. "Now let's see what would look good on you," Mai skimmed the racks as she pulled something out. "How about this?"

Like Mai's it was a one piece, but only had one strap on the right side. The body of it was mainly a silver color as it had a few blue flowers and petals scattered around it. "Wow this is so cute!" Iris grabbed it as she decided on the spot to get it.

"That is!" Serenity said as she came over to them. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a ponytail as she held a black two piece swimsuit with the second piece looking like a short skirt over her blue denim cut off shorts and red v-neck top. "I really like this one!"

"I think that one would look great on you," Tea spoke as she came over with her choice, a nice dark red two piece that had a few shimmers of black and red stripes. "I think we're all set!"

As they walked out of the store with their purchases, Mai clicked a button as it unlocked the trunk of her car. Iris pushed it open as the women set their swimsuits next to their bags packed with what they needed for the weekend. "This is going to be so much fun, I haven't been to the beach in forever!" Serenity cheered as they got into the car, as they began the long drive over.

"Right? This is going to be awesome!" Tea said as she looked back at Iris and Serenity. "I still can't believe the guys were able to get that beach house too," she said as it caught Iris's attention.

"What? The one Tristan and Joey were so hyped up about?" Iris asked as she remembered that they were chatting nonstop about a beach house that was rented out every once and awhile for people. "How was that possible? I thought it wasn't available."

"To be honest I think Duke might have helped and pulled a few strings for us to use it for the weekend." Mai said.

"Well still, it's better than a hotel." Tea said. "By the way, Iris you never did say why Kaiba let you off so early today. I was so surprised when you messaged me that you were off."

Iris still didn't even understand herself, Kaiba still barely told her anything more than just the basics. "I don't know, when I told him about his last meeting today and who it was with he just said that I was ok to leave." she said.

"Maybe he just wants to give you a break," Serenity said to her.

Mai shook her head, "oh please, Kaiba wouldn't be that nice. He's a major jerk, let's not forget how rude he is to Joey and the others. I highly doubt he feels any sympathy for many people, besides his brother."

"I don't know, maybe it is possible for Kaiba to be nice." Tea spoke as she did make a good point, even though Kaiba and them didn't get along very well he did have his moments when he seemed ok with them.

"So Iris, how much longer is your apprenticeship?" Serenity asked.

"Well when I was at New Domino Bank, I only had about a year and a half left. But now that I work for Kaiba I don't really know anymore." Iris answered it was hard for her to know how much things have changed since switching over who was in control of her apprenticeship.

"Almost two years of working with Kaiba? Geez you've definitely got a long road ahead of ya" Mai said.

'You can definitely say that again,' Iris thought to herself. She was still confused about how she felt about everything, especially her feelings for Kaiba.

Part of her was still hurt when can Kaiba told her that what happen in the elevator didn't. It felt like he didn't want to admit what he was doing, but with the way he's been acting she didn't know what to believe anymore.

After a few hours of driving they finally made it to the address that Duke had sent them. "Let the record show that I'm not a fan of long car rides" Iris announced. Stepping out of the car she stretched her arms up to the sky, as she tried to get rid of any stiffness she felt.

"I agree," Tea said, as the women turned their attention towards the house. It was a two story house, that had a porch that seemed to wrap around the entire exterior. Large windows with dark grey curtains were drawn back as they could see the guys fighting about something from the looks of it. The wooden frames surrounding the windows were painted white as it complimented the creamy eggshell color of the home. Iris could make out a wooden staircase that lead down to the beach as she could see the blue ocean behind.

"Oh wow," Serenity whispered.

"This place looks so nice," Mai said as it took them all by surprise by how nice it was. It was a quiet house, that looked better than most of the houses out here...all except one. "Of course there's always someone who's a showoff." she pointed to the house that was next door to them, but still about a block away.

It almost looked futuristic, with a nice bright white exterior the house looked almost cubical shaped. It was quite large as they could make out that the front half of that faced the city had a traditional front of a house with a few windows on the upper and lower stories. Iris walked along the porch as she could see the side that was facing the beach was mainly glass windows. "They have a freaking pool!" she called out to the girls as they could barely see the pool from where they were.

"No way that could be a rental house," Serenity said.

"Looks like it could be a movie star's house," Mai suggested.

"Why are you guys staring at the neighbors?" They heard Tristan ask, as the guys stepped outside with them.

"Do you not see how nice that place looks, it's like out of a movie." Tea said.

"Well I wouldn't get to close to it, Joey and Tristan already tried that and ended up being chased away by the bodyguards." Yugi said.

Joey glared, "we weren't chased. We just uhh….left cause it wasn't that good."

"Sure," Iris sarcastically said.

"Look their place isn't that great," Duke deterred their attention away as they looked over at the large hot tub that was in the center of the porch facing the ocean. "They don't have this!" he said. Iris could see that it did look big enough to fit everyone and it was surrounded by a brick like wall with cement steps.

"Ok you have a point," Iris said as they all made their way back to Mai's car as the girls got their stuff. "So when does the party start?" she asked.

Mai closed the trunk to her car as they all looked at him, Duke hesitated for a second, as he looked down at his phone. "It starts at….8."

"So that gives us like 7 hours until it starts." Mai said, as they all looked at each other.

"I have an idea," Iris said as they all looked towards the beach.

* * *

"Man this is great a full beach to ourselves, no cares, no troubles." Joey said as he and Tristan finished setting up the volleyball net, as he fixed his blue swim trunks. Tossing the white ball in the air, Joey grinned as he threw it up, "heads up Tristan!" he said as he spiked the ball towards his best friend.

Seeing the ball flying right towards him, Tristan hit the sand as he barely missed being hit. Spitting out the sand that got into his mouth, "you're gonna pay for that one Joey!" he yelled, as he already began scheming up his revenge. He dusted the sand from his black baggy shorts, leaving his upper body which showed he was well toned.

"Would you guys start screaming?" Duke joked as he and everyone else stood on the sandy beach. Both he and Yugi were wearing black tank tops, but Duke had on red shorts and Yugi purple. The girls were dressed in their swimwear as well.

"Any louder and you boys could scare away anyone closeby," Mai joked, as she could see Joey fixated on her.

Iris laughed as she put her hands on her hips, "so you guys thinking boys against girls?" she suggested as it was an even number of each.

"Sounds good to me," Yugi said as he and Duke joined Tristan and Joey on their side of the net as the girls spread out on their side. "Let's play!" Yugi announced as Tristan served the ball as it flew over the net, heading towards Tea.

"Got it!" she yelled as she put her arms together and hit it back over.

"Heads up ladies!" Joey ran towards the net as he spiked the ball down as both Tea and Mai dove for it, but missed as the white ball hit the sand. "Oh yea! Point for us!"

Serenity grabbed the ball, "you just got lucky." she smiled, as they continued on with game. They all joked around, their game soon turned into who could do the coolest serve as they all tried different ways to get the ball over the net. Though Iris couldn't shake a strange feeling she felt, it felt like they were all being watched. She turned her attention away from the others as she looked around to see if there was anyone closeby, but all she could really see were the figures of the body guards that stood guard outside of the house next to them. "Iris look out!" Serenity yelled as Iris turned to late, as the volleyball hit her in the head.

Falling into the sand, she quickly sat up as she rubbed her head where the ball had hit her. "You ok?" Tea asked as the others ran over.

"Yea I'm fine, just caught me off guard." she told them.

"Sorry about that Iris," Duke apologized to her.

Iris smiled, "it's fine don't worry about it." she told him, as she could see the guys flash an evil grin.

"I don't think sorry is gonna cut it," Tristan said as Joey and Yugi nodded, the trio grabbed Duke as they made their way to the water. "Gotta pay the price." he joked.

"Hey I told you guys that I didn't want to get wet!" Duke yelled as he tried to break free of their grasp. The girls followed as they all stepped into the water until it reached their waists. "You better not!"

The trio began to swing him as they jokingly pretended to let go of him, "sorry Pretty Boy," Joey remarked as they tossed Duke into the water. Duke was fully covered in sea water as they all couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey Joey," Duke said as Joey turned towards him. "Think fast!" he scooped up a large amount of water in his hands before splashing it onto Joey.

"It's on!"

"Bring it!" they watched as the guys had a water war with each other.

Iris could feel her abs starting to hurt from all the laughing, until she too was splashed in the face. She looked around as she saw the others gang up on her, "oh no you don't!" All hell broke lose as they were splashing each other with sea water, and tackling each other. It was the best time Iris had ever spent with people, and she was happy she could call them her friends.

As they were walking back to the shore, they all tried to get the water out of their hair as they began to walk up to the house. They had lost track of time with all their fooling around that it was getting close to sunset. "Man I can't believe it's late." Yugi said as they grabbed the towels they had set out and dried off a bit.

"No kidding, we should probably hurry and get ready." Serenity suggested.

* * *

"So where exactly is this place?" Iris asked as she slipped on her flats. She decided on a pair of light blue skinny jeans a grey tube top. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, as she saw Joey wearing a black vest over his usual blue and white stripe shirt. Yugi was adjusting the choker around his neck, as Tea slipped on her shoes that went with her blue halter top and black skirt.

Duke stepped out as he smiled, "it's not that far from here apparently." he said.

Mai and Serenity walked out as Joey walked over to them, "now if you're feeling uncomfortable sis, let me know and we'll leave ok?" he said to her as she nodded her head.

"I'll be fine Joey." she tried to assure her.

"Is everyone ready?" Tristan asked as he and the others walked out the door. "Lead the way Duke," he said as they followed him as they were walking down the sidewalk as they passed by the house next door. "So where is it?"

They didn't have to look far as a few blocks down they could see a large house quite similar to the one they were staying in flashing with lights, that could brighten up the night sky. "Still need to ask?" Duke sarcastically said as the other started quickening their steps.

The place was booming with loud music as it had a much different feel than the one that Duke had thrown last week. The dance floor was packed with people as they had to push their way through the crowds. Iris was already starting to feel a bit uncomfortable at this new situation, as she had a feeling so did Tea. As the others went into the crowd to dance, she and Tea made their way to the bar.

Iris looked at the guy behind the counter, "two appletinis please." They both had their backs to the crowds as they could barely see their friends. "Man I didn't know this place would be so packed."

"No kidding," Tea said.

"Honestly I think I'm just gonna have a few drinks and head back, I didn't think it would be like this." she told her friend as they were given their drinks.

"Yea don't worry, honestly I don't think we'll be here very long either." Tea responded as they both took a sip from their drinks. "So how have things been going with you and Kaiba?" she joked.

Iris could feel her cheeks starting to burn up, "well to be honest he tried to kiss me again." she told her, as she finished her drink in one gulp before signalling for another one. "And like last time he told me to just forget about it."

"Are you serious?" Tea asked, as Iris started her second drink. "What is with him? It's like he doesn't know if he has feelings for you or not."

Iris nodded her head, "tell me about it. I wish I could read his mind in order to find out what was really going on inside that head of his." she told her.

"Might want to think twice on that one, you don't know what's inside his head." they both laughed as Iris quickly finished her second drink. "You done?"

"Yea," she looked around as she still felt how she did when she arrived with the others. "I'm really sorry that I'm the first to leave, but honestly I'm just not feeling this party." she told Tea.

"I already told you it was fine, do you want me or any of the guys to walk you back to the house?" she asked.

Shaking her head, "no thanks I'll be ok." Iris told Tea. She watched as Tea made her way back to her friends, before pushing her way back to the front door. Stepping outside she could see that the house had the exact same design as the porch at their rental as she walked down the steps and onto the beach.

Taking off her shoes, Iris began making the walk home in the sand. She did feel bad about leaving early, but she was happy that no one was forcing her to really stay. As she began to approach the fancy house next to them, she took a moment to admire the full moon. It had been so long since she had last seen one, the circular orb in the sky shined so bright that it had a strange warmth to it.

When she made it close to the rental, Iris sat in the sand facing the ocean as she watched the dark waves crash into each other. The sound of it was calming to her, as the gentle sea breeze blew the little pieces of her hair out of her face. "What are you doing?" Iris quickly turned, which ended up being a bad idea as the alcohol in her system made her head spin as she saw Kaiba standing near her.

"Don't tell me you own that house over there." she said.

"So what if I do, you didn't answer my question." Kaiba crossed his arms in front of him, "what are you doing here?"

"Why do you care?" she asked as she returned her gaze at the ocean, she could see in the corner of her eye that Kaiba sat close to her. "What are you doing here?" she repeated his question to her.

"You tell me, and I'll tell you." she could hear his annoyed tone.

She shook her head, which again was a bad idea as she tried to hold her head in place. "I got invited to a party by my friends and I decided to go." she answered him. "Your turn."

"Today's the anniversary that Mokuba and I left the orphanage." he told her, as she looked at him. She could see in his eyes that his day meant a lot to him, "even though it wasn't what we had expected we were finally able to leave together, it was a promise that I made him."

"A promise?"

Kaiba nodded his head, "yea. When we were still in the orphanage I promised him every year on the anniversary of the day we left I would bring him to one place he wanted to go; the beach."

"And every year he still wants to go?" she asked.

"Mokuba says that seeing the waves here help him forget what we've been through."

"Oh, I see." They were both silent as they sat their watching the waves, "Kaiba…" Iris spoke. "Can I be honest with you?"

"I guess, it's the least you could do since I told you so much." he told her in his usual Kaiba way.

"That day when you asked me how my parents felt about me working for you...I lied...my parents are dead." she told him.

"I had a feeling," he said as they both looked each other in the eye. "When you told me, I could see in your eyes that it was hard for you even to try and say they were alive." he explained, as her head dropped. "Can I ask what happened?"

Iris was so surprised that Kaiba was showing real interest, as she felt her heart start to race. She looked down at the sand, "when I was young my mom died from illness, and when I was sixteen my dad and I were in a terrible car accident. I made it out with just a broken arm and partial memory loss, but my dad died on the scene." she told him.

"I'm really sorry to hear that Iris," Kaiba told her as he could her wrap her around herself as she was shivering. Taking off his signature white studded jacket, he placed it on her shoulders as she grabbed the sides of it. As she looked up at him he could see that a few tears spilled from her eyes.

"What's worse is that he ended up marrying a gold digging snake, who I absolutely hate." she said, "I swear if you got her pair of diamond earrings she would complain they weren't good enough and rant for days."

Kaiba smirked, "sounds like nothing can satisfy her. Except her own ego."

Iris couldn't help but laugh, "no kidding. Her daughter is even worse. She's like a clone of her, but has a nasally voice and will only wear things that are gaudy and pink."

"Something tells me you guys didn't get along." he said, as he saw her shake her head.

"No, she would go shopping and bring her little clone with her while I spent time with my father away from her and her annoying attitude." she said, "you know Kaiba… I really don't tell people about this type of stuff, unless I can trust them."

"Are you saying you didn't trust me before?"

"You know I'll be honest, but you're a really hard guy to read. I just thought it would be better not to say anything so it didn't sound like I was trying to get sympathy from you or anyone else. That's why I very rarely ever talk about it." she explained.

"I see," Kaiba stood up as he held his hand up. Iris took hold of it as he pulled her up, she looked up at him as Iris felt like she was finally getting somewhere with him. She was able to trust him, and now he was able to open up to her, even if it was a little bit it was better than how they started out.

She handed him back his jacket as they made their way back, as he followed to the wooden steps that lead to the house she was staying in. "Kaiba…" Iris didn't know what came over her, as she wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. She didn't care if he pushed her off, she just wanted to express her gratitude in someway. "Thank you."

Kaiba didn't know how to respond at first, but he allowed himself to enjoy feeling her close to him. Seeing how far she had come to reveal even a little bit about herself willingly to him was enough. He could see the pain in her eyes as she relieved those terrible memories, but even he had to admit she's a strong woman to not have fallen apart with a past like her's.

Feeling Kaiba's arms around her, Iris was shocked that he returned the hug back. "Seto…" Iris looked up at him, "if you want when it's just the two of us…just call me Seto."

Slowly pulling away Iris smiled, "alright. Well I'll see you Monday morning, good night Seto" she said as she watched him walk back towards the property he owned.

"Night." he replied. Iris felt a surge of joy flow threw her. She couldn't describe it as she felt her lips naturally curl into a smile that didn't seem to want to leave her face.

"It's true...I really have fallen for Seto."


	10. Stars and Memories

Hey guys! So please note I'm taking an aspect from Yugioh: The Dark Side of Dimensions, so if you guys haven't seen it then it's ok I'll try my best to describe it.

* * *

Iris sat besides Kaiba as they were riding towards Kaiba Corp, he was quiet like he usually was during their rides over. She didn't expect for him to open up like he did when they were at the beach, but something didn't feel right to her. Iris couldn't describe it other than an unusual tension, she felt choked up and hard to speak to him.

As the car stopped, they got out as their made their way into the building. Stepping into the elevator she opened up the binder as she looked at the first thing on Kaiba's schedule. "It looks like you're going to have a meeting in half an hour, to go over the quarterly stats." she told him. "And then after that it looks like you're going to be testing the duel disk again today, it'll take up a majority of your day." Iris warned.

"Hm, alright." he spoke. She remembered that Kaiba had left last time when he went to test out the updated duel disk without her. He was gone from early morning until the afternoon, leaving her to work on the Kaiba Land project until he returned.

"Would like me to stay behind again until you return Mr. Kaiba?" she asked him, as she just wanted to prepare herself.

Shaking his head, "no, this time I want you to come with me so you can evaluate the results." he told her as they stepped out of the elevator. "Here," he said as he handed her a small flash drive. "Get the monitors set up in the conference room, I want all projections up and ready."

Nodding her head, "understood." she said as they split down the hallways. Going down the right corridor, she made her way to the conference room. She had figured out that the other side of Kaiba's personal floor was not only for him but for his personal meetings he had with the heads of his company. Walking up to the glass doors she pushed them open, as the lights turned on upon her entrance.

There was a large circular table in the center of the white and tan painted room as there was a monitor at the very end of the room. Approaching the monitor she plugged in the flash drive Kaiba had given her, Iris pulled up close to ten different graphs as she snapped her fingers.

The graphs were soon digitized before her as she walked towards them, using her hands she moved around a few graphs as she placed them in areas that she and Kaiba would be able to reach. "I think that's about good," she said to herself as she looked at her watch, the meeting didn't start for another fifteen minutes.

Walking out of the conference room, she made her way back to Kaiba's office. "Mr. Kaiba," she announced as she walked into the room. "The projections are all set to go," she said as he didn't seemed impressed.

"Good," he said as he got up from his desk. He slipped his purple trench coat on as it was a bit similar to his white one as the end of it was flared out. It had a few gold like studs on it as he had silver like bands that started from his wrist until close to his elbow. "Iris, continue your work on the Kaiba Land project. I want your next report by Friday and no later. I want to start everything for it in two weeks from today." he told her, as he walked out of the office leaving her behind.

Iris sighed, she was already done with the report. All she had to do was go over it and have it printed up for him. She sat down as she opened up the binder, she looked over as she saw that the rest of Kaiba's day after the test of his duel disks were to just make preparations for the live broadcast he was going to do.

Feeling her personal phone vibrating she pulled it up and held it up to her ear, "hello?"

"Miss Iris, what have I told you about not contacting me for extensive periods?" she heard Jameson complain.

She shook her head, "Jameson this is sort of a bad time, I'm working right now." she said.

"I know Miss Iris, but I grew worried that's all." Jameson said.

Iris knew he cared about her, after the death of her father he became like a father figure to her. He wasn't a man after money, but someone who truly cared about those around him. "I know, I'm sorry I've just been busy with so much that I forget to check in with you."

"Busy? Miss Iris, have you been trying to reclaim the memories you lost?" Jameson asked her.

She shook her head, "no. I haven't, but I still do feel like there is something important that I need to remember." Iris explained to him.

"I'm sure it'll come back to you in time, even if it appears that something is lost doesn't mean it truly is." Jameson said, "I'll let you go for now Miss Iris, but please don't forget to call I was more than just your father's assistant you know."

Iris giggled, "yes I know Jameson, you're apart of my true family. I'll talk to you later," she hanged up the phone. She heard Kaiba's phone ring as she walked over to the desk and answered it. "Yes?"

"Oh Iris! Good, I have something down here for Mr. Kaiba do you think you could get it please?" she heard Kaya ask.

Shaking her head, "yea sure. I'll be down in a few minutes." she told her before hanging up the phone. "I swear one of these days he needs to invent a way to have his stuff delivered to him on this floor." she said to herself as she walked out of his office and made her way back to the elevator.

She turned towards the window side of the elevator as she began watching her descent back down to the main floor. It was just another beautiful day, as she could see the streets below were filled with people that from where she was looked like ants. Looking out she could barely see New Domino Bank; Iris greatly missed working there she had fun, it was the perfect place for her to work and to help ensure that she would be ready.

Ready for when she took over her father's company.

The bell rang as the doors opened, stepping out Iris made her way to the desk. "What do you have for me today?" Iris asked, as she saw Kaya hold up a large card style envelope.

"This came in today, it's a bit bulky and from the looks of it fancy." Kaya said, in a joking style as they both laughed.

"Let me see that," Iris told her as she grabbed the gold tinted envelope from Kaya. Iris was shocked that there was no name, no address, nothing. Just a red wax seal with a strange symbol pressed into it. "How do you know this is for Mr. Kaiba?"

Kaya shrugged her shoulders, "some guy in a suit and tie came in and was very clear that it was for Mr. Kaiba." she answered her. "I only saw him once before… last week when he delivered that letter."

"Really?" Iris whispered. "Either he has an admirer or someone is trying to butter him up." To Iris it was beyond strange, first a letter with no return address and now this one.

"If you ask me it's just strange, I haven't been here a year yet but never have I ever seen something like this." Kaya spoke. "I'll try and get an identification on that guy next time he comes in."

"That's much appreciated," Iris said as she walked back to the elevator. Holding her door card to it the doors opened as she stepped in and began her ascent back up.

Looking down at the envelope Iris was starting to become very curious about what it's contents were. She knew she couldn't open it, let alone ask Kaiba about it. Snapping her fingers she found out a way that she could secretly find out. "Curiosity killed the cat, but when dealing with Seto you've gotta be clever." she said to herself as she stepped out, and made her way back his office.

Stepping inside she saw that he had yet to return from his meeting, she placed the envelope on his desk as she sat back down. Grabbing her briefcase she opened it and pulled out her small black laptop as she re-read her report to make sure she didn't miss anything.

About a half an hour had passed, as she saw Seto return. "Did the meeting go alright Mr. Kaiba?" she asked him as he sat down at his desk.

He glared up at her, "what's this?" he asked her as he held up the envelope.

"Kaya said that a man delivered that today while you were in your meeting. He made it clear that it was for you." she told him. Iris watched as he opened up the envelope, pulling at the wax seal on the back as he pulled out a red card with golden edged. She watched as Kaiba skimmed over it, knowing she already had a plan Iris saw her opportunity. "Is everything ok?"

Kaiba looked up at her, placing the card down. "Look for yourself." he said as he could see the curiosity in her eyes.

Taking the card from him, she could see the handwritten cursive words. "Dear Mr. Seto Kaiba, we cordially invite you to the Nobles' Charity Gala with this years profits going to local orphanages to provide these children then more than just clothing and food. We hope to see you at our event, and please note you are required to bring a date." Iris read the card aloud.

"You didn't have to read it, I already know what it says." Kaiba told her. Iris didn't pay attention to what he said as the word date rang in her head, as she was just frozen. "Iris!"

Hearing Kaiba yell her name, she partially snapped out of it, "date?" she spoke as she froze again as her cheeks were flushed red. "I mean...I'm sorry sir, umm...do you plan on attending the event?" she asked as she tried to forget what just happened.

"Possibly, but that's for me to decide." he told her, as she watched Kaiba gather a few things as he placed them in his own briefcase before he got up, "let's go we're leaving to test out the duel disks." he told her.

Gather her stuff Iris, followed behind him as she felt her heart racing. She didn't know what he would decide. Part of her wished he would tell her that she was going with him, but another part of her not to get her hopes up.

* * *

"We're gonna fit in that?" Iris asked, as she looked at Kaiba. After driving almost an hour away from Kaiba Corp they had made their way towards the harbor as they reached a man-made island that Kaiba had designed, with the biggest aspect being the long tube that reached from the island up to the sky. Numerous workers were on computers as they were ensuring that things were set to go for their trip. Iris could hear announcements about the wind speed and approximate speed needed for both of them to make it there.

"We'll have to, it's the only way to get to the station." he said to her sounding like his usual annoyed self.

"The station? Is this even safe to get into a space station?" she freaked out, "I'm not comfortable with this." she told him.

Grabbing her hand Kaiba lead her towards the pod as the doors to both the tube and the pod opened up. Seeing that there was one chair in it. "It's safe Mokuba and I use it to go to the station, everything that I designed and invented has never failed me."

Sitting in the chair he pulled Iris onto him as she sat on his lap. Before she could object again both of the doors closed, as she felt all the warmth in her body leave her as she felt cold. The pod began to take off with incredible speed, as she watched out the windows of the pod and tube as they were beginning to rise above the clouds. Iris instantly began to feel herself begin to shake, wrapping her arms around Kaiba she buried her face in his shoulder, "I can't look!" she yelled.

Iris was beyond shocked that they were still going up, as she thought that they would stop soon. She closed her eyes tight as she kept her face hidden, to ensure she wouldn't look outside. The sounds outside of them didn't help either, as it wasn't loud or windy, but an eerie quiet that gave her body goose bumps.

Kaiba had done this more times then he could count, it didn't bother him but seeing how Iris was he placed a hand on her head as he gently stroked her hair. "You're safe, just look." he told her.

Iris was very hesitant, as she slowly turned her head back to look. As she opened her eyes she saw it. She could see the world, the outlines of the continents surrounded by beautiful sapphire blue waters as clouds of different hues of grey and white were scattered around. Even though she still felt nervous, she knew this was an amazing sight that not many people could get to see. "It's beautiful."

"Nothing to worry about." he told her, as the view of the Earth disappeared as they reached the station. The pod finally stopped as the doors opened, they both stood up as they left the pod and stepped into the station. Looking to her right Iris saw a large window, as she slowly approached it she looked up into the starry black sky. Each star looked like a bright fireball, that just dazzled in the darkness filling it with light.

Iris could feel herself spacing out, as she felt a strange feeling in the back of her head, as things started to feel fuzzy.

' _I wish one day I could see the Earth like the stars do.' a girl's voice said. Iris knew that voice, it was her's! She couldn't see where she was, but she knew that she was young._

" _Why would you want to do that?" a boy asked, the voice didn't sound familiar to her. Not one bit. Looking over she could hardly make out who the boy she was talking to was, all she saw was a black silhouette that appeared to be a bit taller than her. "There are plenty of pictures of what the Earth looks like from space."_

" _Yea, but that's just a picture. I wanna see it for myself! I wanna make it worth it!"_

Iris pulled herself out of it, as she grabbed her head as she felt a throbbing pain take over. Taking a step back she felt herself fall as she expected to land on the metal floor, but she felt something break her fall.

She could see Kaiba's arms wrapped around her, as he caught her before she made it to the floor. "What's wrong with you?" Kaiba asked her, as he kept her on her feet. "Iris! Answer me!" he demanded.

Feeling the pain starting to slowly fade away, she looked up at him. "I think...part of memory….it just came back…" she told him through the pain.

"What do you mean?"

Iris could feel almost all the pain leave, "when I saw the stars and the Earth it brought back a memory that I think I lost when I was in my accident." she told him.

"You think you lost? You're not making sense." he told her.

"It was really fuzzy, I just know I was talking to someone about wanting to see the Earth like the stars do, I wanted to see it for myself and that a picture wasn't really worth it, but to see it was." she told him.

"So you only had a piece come back?" he asked.

Iris nodded her head, "yea, but…" she looked back out the window. "Ever since my accident, the memories I did lose I wasn't able to remember, I tried to but nothing worked. And now...I'm finally on the right track." she explained.

"I guess this means you'll try and regain your lost memory." Kaiba said to her.

Looking around she could see that it was only just the two of them in this corridor. "Even if I try to...I still don't know where to look Seto. It's been four years since the accident, and this is the first breakthrough I've had. I just know that there was something important that I forgot, and I need to remember it."

"I'm not one for advice, but if it's important to you then it should come back in time." he told her, as she smiled.

Iris knew Kaiba had a point, she needed to give it more time. But if he didn't bring her here, then she wouldn't have been able to regain that little fragment of her past. Iris knew this was just the start, "thank you Seto."


	11. Deciphering Anger

Iris sat with Mai, Tea, and Serenity, as she was on her lunch break. Her only time she had a chance to get away from Kaiba, especially today he seemed to be worse than usual and even more of a headache. "I swear it's like he's more hotheaded today, I don't know what's gotten into him but I swear I'll hate going back to work." she said.

"I don't know how you can deal with him." Mai said, the loud chatting of the crowds of people walking around the mall. "You think it has something to do about his duel disk or one of his meetings?" she asked.

It had almost been a solid week of his attitude growing worse and worse. She shook her head, "no, last time he had a bad meeting he was just quiet. He's just really rude today." Iris could also rule out that it wasn't about the Kaiba Land expansion either, since it was due to begin the following Monday.

"Well it's not like you can be rude back to him, not unless you want to end up in a screaming match it him." Serenity said as she got up from the table, "sorry I have to go guys, I don't want to be late from my lunch." she told them as she waved before running towards one of the department stores.

"She does have a point, don't be offended but your rage versus Kaiba's….I don't know who would win." Tea said, Iris found it humorous as she laughed, "just promise me if you do go off on him, just don't go too far."

"I can't make any promises, he's already pissed me off so much before my lunch that I don't know if I can keep it up much longer" Iris explained. She still had a couple more days until her day off from work, "I just hope when I do go back he's cooled down," she said.

"Might be easier said than done," Mai told her. She looked down at her phone, "it's about time we all go back to work, you ladies want a ride?" she asked.

Iris nodded her head, "yea sure, thanks."

"I'm good, I'll just walk back." Tea said as they both looked at her.

"You sure?" Mai asked.

Tea looked a bit upset, as she was a little bit more quiet than she usually was. "Yea, I just need to clear my head a bit." she told them.

"You know you can talk to us," Iris reassured her.

"I know, I'll call you later ok?" she said, as she smiled. Iris could see right through her, she was hiding something. Something she wasn't talking about.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Iris said to her as they walked out of the mall, as they headed towards Mai's car. "Do you know what's going on? I swear I've never seen Tea like this before." she asked, as they both got in.

"Honestly I tried asking Joey that, and even he doesn't know. Yugi won't tell him anything," Mai answered her as they drove down the road. "If you ask me they probably got into a big fight, and by the looks of it, they're in the middle of it."

Iris had no idea, she'd been so busy with work she hadn't noticed anything. "Did something happen?"

Mai took a corner as they could see Kaiba Corp up ahead, "not that I can remember. Look I'm sure it'll resolve itself in time," she told her as she pulled up along the side of the road.

"I hope you're right, anyway thanks for the ride Mai." Iris thanked her, as Mai smiled.

"No problem, if you're off early let me know maybe we can hit the town for a bit." she offered.

"Yea sure, I'll let you know."

"See ya hun!" Mai drove off as Iris walked back towards Kaiba Corp.

Iris walked up towards the doors as she entered inside, she stepped into the elevator as she took a deep breath. She wasn't looking to dealing with Kaiba, especially if he still was in a bad mood. As the doors opened Iris made her way towards Kaiba office as she entered. "I'm back from lunch," she announced.

"I can see that," he said as she saw that he was were he was when she left. Right on his computer with numerous pieces of paper scattered across his large desk. "You're late."

"I'm a minute early Mr. Kaiba," she told him. It hasn't been a minute yet, and she was already getting annoyed.

Iris rolled her eyes, "I can see that you're still in your mood."

"Did you just rolled your eyes at me?" he angrily asked. "Lose the attitude Iris."

Feeling her anger starting to raise, she tighten her hand into a fist "the only one who needs to lose the attitude Kaiba, seriously you're starting to really to piss me off."

"What did you say to me?!" slamming his hands on his desk, he quickly stood up as he approached her.

"I swear you're deaf, cause you can never seem to hear anything," Iris started. "I've been dealing with your attitude ever since this morning, you need to cool down or something! You've just been rude and unbearable!" she shouted.

"I wouldn't be quick to judge I have to put up with you!" Seeing the rage in his eyes she could only imagine what was going to come out of his mouth next, "it's like you don't know half of what I ask you to do! I end up having to correct every mistake you make."

Iris felt a pain surge within her, she was beyond her anger. Looking down at the ground she turned around, "I can't deal with you, I'm going home!" she yelled.

"Fine, just get out of my face!"

"With pleasure!"

Iris stormed out of his office, as she was practically running towards the elevator. Upon arriving at the main floor she tried her best to stay calm as she left the building normally until she was out of sight.

Almost running home, Iris grabbed her phone as she made a call. "Jameson, get ready to go online." she said.

Entering into her apartment, Iris opened her briefcase as she found the small little black button hidden behind the fabric on the upper right corner. A small section opened as she grabbed the red lense piece, it was shaped perfectly as she placed it over her right eye. She carefully placed the silver band that held it together around her head.

In her hand she grabbed two little silver half ran her thumb against them as she could feel the edges that were welded, it felt cold and a little bumpy. "It's time to use you guys." her father's last invention, only she and Jameson had it.

Positioning herself in the middle of her apartment Iris threw one of the half circles behind her as three sharp prongs shot out from the bottom before sticking to the wall. She threw the other one in front of her, she looked to see both weren't going to fall down anytime soon.

Placing her hand to her ear she pressed a button along the band, "activate scanners," she said. The two little half circles shot out a red beam as it began tracing the room surroundings. Hearing a low beep, "access private Botania network." she said. Iris watched through the lense as she saw the numerous codes and access points that were being used, as she saw it stop at a bright light. "Now, online!"

A red light filled the room as she could see a figure slowly starting to come into image. A man in his late fifties began to virtualize, wearing a black suit and tie she saw his light hair was slicked back as he was adjusting the monocle he had over his left eye as she saw a similar eyepiece over his left eye.

"I see you're never without your monocle Jameson," Iris stated crossing her arms.

He coughed a bit, "it's my favorite accessory, now young lady I would like to know why you're in such a bad mood." he said.

"My boss is an ass."

"Aren't most people my dear, Miss Iris you know better than anyone that someone with power will always feel the struggles and suppression of their job." he told her.

Iris shook her head, "Jameson they've been like this all week, I almost strangled them."

"I tried to warn you about that when you said that you wanted to work in the real world," he spoke, "maybe you should try talking to your boss about what is wrong." he suggested.

"Fat chance that is going to happen, my boss doesn't like to talk about their feelings. They're just made of stone." Iris knew she was talking out of anger, but she was beginning to feel like the progress she made with Kaiba had just taken a major step back.

"So was your father," Jameson caught her attention. "Your father was never a man to talk about what was going on, not unless he truly trusted the person he was telling them to. It could just be that whatever is upsetting your boss is on a very personal level to them. Thus making it difficult for them to tell you, and taking a toll on himself."

Iris didn't really think of it that way, "maybe, but still they said that put up with me! That my work is inadequate and they have to correct the mistakes I make."

"Miss Iris, I believe they said that out of anger. If you heard half the things your mother and father had said well...you could make novel series." Iris laughed, "that's better, it's better to see you smile."

"Thank you Jameson, I just wanted to talk to you all my friends were busy and I knew you would understand better."

He bowed, "I'm always glad to be the one to lend my ear to you. Now Miss Iris I'm very glad you called, I have some information for you."

"Regarding what?"

"Ruby and Jade."

Iris cringed at their names, her stepmother Ruby and step sister Jade. The two people whom she never wanted to hear from in a million years, "I'm going to hate myself for asking but what do they want?"

"Miss Iris they are claiming that Jade is the rightful heir to Botania Industry and your father's estate. However, they are refusing to prove it by going through with the blood test."

"That doesn't surprise me," Iris said. "They know the truth, they know they're telling lies. If anything they're only doing this because the money I gave them to get out of my life is close to being dried up."

"My thoughts exactly, but there is one more thing you should know."

"Which is?"

"As of late, I've noticed your Vice President Gregory going through your father's will and visiting your parents' mausoleums." Now this shocked Iris, "I don't believe he knows of the security cameras on sight, he's been there three times in the last week alone."

"This raises some concern. But no matter, let's not forget that we only gave them the basics of father's will. Only three pages, but the true original is at the secret location with everything else and I have a copy of it. All eight pages of father's true will."

Jameson nodded his head, "very true but I do believe we need to take some precaution into this matter."

"I know, Jameson I want you to run an extensive and thorough background check and history on Gregory, look through every aspect and detail of his past. Whatever you find let me know immediately." she responded.

"Understood Miss Iris, but what are we to do about the test?" Jameson asked, Iris could see that his virtual figure was starting to become a little staticy but it was only for a minute. "Oh my,"

"Father's virtualizer was still in its beta phase before he could finish it, it doesn't surprise me that it's starting to get weak. We'll continue that talk later Jameson, I'm afraid we're going to have end our meeting short."

Nodding his head, "of course Miss Iris, I'll call you incase I find something." he said as their conversation ended. The red light in the room dissipated as she grabbed the small projectors and took off her headset.

Iris shook her head, "I've been gone for so long….I don't even know what's going on anymore." she said to herself as she walked towards her window. She had left home after the accident fearing her life was in danger, she only had one person left in this world to trust. "I hope he finds something fast."

* * *

Kaiba looked down at the world below him. He could still feel the rage inside of him after him and Iris's little explosion, as after she left he went to the station to work on something. "Mr. Kaiba?" turning back he saw Roland come into the space.

"This better be good," he said crossing his arms.

"Regarding the document we found that was left behind by Gozaburo Kaiba, all we could decipher is that it is a binding document. In order to nullify it you need the consents of those who created it." he said.

Kaiba grinded his teeth, he wasn't happy hearing this news. "So you're saying there's nothing that can break it?" This was not the news he wanted to hear at all, "it's been a week of having to figure out what that document says and we're still nowhere!"

Roland shook his head, "since more than half of the document was destroyed by water and is severely aged we can't even tell who the other individual was who created the document with him."

"Did you even try testing those blood marks on the document?" Kaiba was starting to get annoyed. It had almost been

"We tried sir, but it's results are inconclusive."

"Inconclusive?!" he shouted, "there's no way that the results can be inconclusive! I designed a machine that's only purpose is to decipher that blasted document!"

Roland handed Kaiba a tablet as he saw the beiged document on it, he scanned it as he saw that the water damage had destroyed an approximate 87% of the hand written paragraphs. The only thing that were legible was the first paragraph, Gozaburo's signature, and two thumb prints that were the binding part of the document.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid that this document is beyond restoring." Roland knew that Kaiba was furious. "However, since this document was also written and agreed upon by another individual we can only assume that they have a copy of this as well."

"So you're telling me that I have to wait until the one who carries the other half comes to find me?" Kaiba asked sarcastically. He wasn't a patient man when it came to matters about him or really anything. He wanted things done and quickly.

"I'm afraid so." Roland answered.

"No. Isolate the thumb prints, run them again in the databases, look at every high powered individual that Gozaburo had worked with, and test them again. Next time I want to hear you found a match." Kaiba told him as he was making his way back to the pod.

"Where are you going sir?" Roland asked.

"I have a personal matter to deal with," he said. "Ensure Mokuba gets home safe when he's done with his work here." Kaiba told him as he entered into the pod knowing exactly where he was going next.

* * *

Walking home from the store Iris carried the two filled white plastic shopping bags down the block as she saw her apartment just up ahead. She could still feel her feet ache from the heels she wore earlier today, as she had changed out of her professional attire into something more comfortable, a pair of black torn shorts and a purple shirt that was slightly baggy as it exposed one of her shoulders.

She had cooled down a bit from what happened earlier today as she could feel the late afternoon breeze blow through her hair. Iris had taken Mai up on her offer to hang out as they ended up going to department store that Serenity worked at.

As she was getting closer to her apartment building, Iris could hear an engine revving as it was starting to get closer and closer. She could see bright headlights coming down from the road, it was a car she had never seen before. It looked fairly low, but not bad as the front was extended out further then the back, it's dazzling grey rims fit with the dark navy blue color of the car.

It pulled up on the side of the road, she only knew one person who could have a car like this.

The driver's door opened as she saw it open upwards, a second later Kaiba stepped out. He approached her as the door closed by itself. She noticed that he wasn't wearing his jacket, just the black long sleeve he usual had on underneath it. "What do you want?" Iris asked.

"We need to talk."

"No." Iris said, as she turned her back towards him and began to make her way to her apartment. "Why should I talk to you?" she asked him angrily as she saw that he followed her up to her door.

"I'm here to apologize." he answered her.

Iris was surprised, at this point she knew he had very little sympathy except for a few occasions but this didn't seem like the Kaiba she knew. "You're actually going to apologize?" she asked him. She could see that he was serious as she grabbed the key to her apartment as they stepped inside. "Make yourself comfy."

Kaiba looked around, seeing the simplicity of her apartment. Just a few bookshelves filled to the brim with books, a desk with textbooks and paper work, and a few other things, "nice place."

"Thanks," she said as they both sat down on her couch. "So tell me, what the hell has been going on with you?" she asked him. "I swear this week you've been the worst you've ever been, I-"

"I'm sorry Iris," Kaiba cut her off as he saw Iris freeze, "I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier about me correcting your mistakes I didn't mean it."

Iris looked down, "you know that really hurt. Ever since you made me your assistant I have to work even harder than I did before," she told him.

"I was just angry, I didn't mean anything that I said to you." he told her.

"But why were you so angry? I've never seen you before, it's like you're not the real Seto Kaiba that I work for." she said, Iris wanted so badly to say how she really felt, but held back.

"It's a very personal matter that I'm trying to figure out. I can't believe I'm admitting it, but everything so far I've tried has just come back as inconclusive." Kaiba admitted.

"Oh, I'm sorry Seto. But still I don't think it's right that you let your emotions regarding that matter get to you," she told him as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Umm… if you don't mind me asking...what is it-"

"I can't tell you yet," Kaiba cut her off. "But I will when I find out." he told her.

"Ok," she said. "I do accept your apology Seto," she told him as she out of habit went in to hug him before stopping herself, "oh sorry I don't know if you're ok with?"

"It's fine." he said as they both wrapped their arms around each other. Iris was the first woman he ever really willingly hug, it felt good to hold her close to him. They slowly pulled away as they stood up, "I should get going." he said as Iris followed him to the door.

She felt a bit saddened that he was leaving her right now, "I'll see you tomorrow Seto," she said to him as he opened the door.

"Yea, see you tomorrow," Kaiba took a step out of her apartment before he quickly turned to her, "Iris you do recall that Charity Gala I was invited to go to?"

Iris nodded her head, "yes it's next Saturday night though isn't it?" she asked, her heart was beginning to race. "H-have you decided about if you were going or not?" Iris stuttered.

"I have," he said. "I'm going."

"I see, but Seto that invitation said you are required to bring a date." she reminded him.

"I know, that's why I'm taking you." he told her.

Iris felt her heart skip a beat, "You're taking me?"

"Yes. I have to go, good night Iris." he said to her, Kaiba turned away as he made his way out.

Iris shut the door as she leaned her back against it, slowly slipping down until she was sitting against it. "Seto's taking me to the Charity Gala…." she whispered as she couldn't help but smile. She was beyond happy right now. "He's really going to take me."


	12. Moonlight Dancing

Hi guys! Sorry this update is a bit late, I had to do some research and along with some field work with my fiance to figure out how I was going to really describe Iris's and Kaiba's day! Hope you guys like it!

* * *

Iris sighed.

She looked at the gown bag that hanged from the hook on her bedroom door. It had been sitting there since this morning, just waiting to be slipped on and showed off. Her heart was racing, and her hands felt clammy as she began to worry about tonight. Even though Seto was kind enough to give her the day off to get ready for this evening she still couldn't calm her nerves.

Going over the mirror next to her bed, she ran her hand through her freshly cut hair. It felt different, her once hip length hair now four inches shorter. Iris knew it was still long, but to her the layers and new length was refreshing. She took advice from the hair stylist who cut her hair, that some layers would make the curls she planned to do for tonight appear more stunning and still make her hair look fuller.

She touched the greyish brown mud mask she had applied on earlier as she felt her face become stiff while it was drying. Walking into her bathroom she grabbed her curling iron and plugged it in. "I really hope this turns out well." Iris said to herself, as she washed her face of her mask as she could feel her soft smooth skin.

Iris patted her face off as she looked at the clock on her phone, "3:17" she said. Iris knew Seto was going to have Roland arrive here at 4:30 giving her a little over an hour to get prepared. She was a bit puzzled why so early, the Charity Gala didn't start until 7 tonight.

Grabbing a portion of her hair, Iris pulled it up as she brushed it back into a high ponytail as she made sure it looked even. Seeing the few small locks that didn't want to be tied up, she smiled so far it was going as she wanted it to go. Holding her curling iron, Iris alternated the way she turned the iron on the lower section that wasn't tied up, before carefully curling the rest of her hair. She ensured her face was framed by delicate curls.

Running her fingers threw the warm locks, she checked to make sure there wasn't a lock or two that was left out. She sprayed her hair with hairspray to make sure they would stay. As she stepped out she looked back at her hidden dress.

She knew she had some time left before she had to leave, unzipping the bag Iris took out her dress and slipped it on. It fit her perfectly, the single strap over her shoulder as the front of the dress stopped above her knees but still cascaded down behind her. It wasn't too frilly or too simple, as the dark navy blue of her dress was adorned with subtle purple accents.

"Well at least it's blue," she said to herself. Seto had told her that her dress needed to be blue, it was his way to make sure they matched even though she didn't know how he was going to dress for the evening.

Sitting at her makeup table, Iris lightly brushed her powder foundation on before adding a little blush to her cheeks to give her a warmer look. She added a light amount of blue eye shadow on before outlining her eyes with her black liner, while still trying to keep it minimal and yet elegant. She added a light coat of mascara to her lashes as she reached for her lipstick, but stopped.

Iris felt like this was enough, she didn't want to overdo it and bring about the wrath of Seto. She needed to make sure she did this right. This was an event she was going to with him! There was already enough pressure knowing she was Seto's date, but even more since this was a high class event.

Reaching for her apple flavored lip balm she applied a thin coat, as the natural pink of her lips was highlighted beautifully. Iris grabbed the shoes next to her, a pair of closed toed blue high heels that had a small wrap like band. She slipped them on as she secured the band around her ankle.

Ensuring her balance, Iris grabbed the silver clutch purse as she slipped her phone and apartment key in it. She knew it was getting close to her pick up time, as she looked out her window to see the limo just pulling up, "good timing." she said to herself as she walked out of her apartment and made her way down to the front.

Roland stepped out, as he opened the door for her. "Miss Iris I must say you look amazing," he complimented her.

Iris smiled, "thank you Roland, I hope Mr. Kaiba thinks so as well." she said as she stepped inside. The limo began to move as Iris looked out the window. She still couldn't shake the feeling she had, it was like there was a knot in her stomach as she felt like the back of her neck was beginning to break out in a cold sweat.

She watched as they began to pull up the driveway to the mansion as they came to a stop, Iris waited until Roland came and opened the door for her. Carefully stepping out, she followed him to the door, "Mr. Kaiba is in his study," he told her as she giggled.

"Of course he is," Iris said as she could still remember the way to get there. Even on days like this he was still in his study, working yet again on things. "He's always working."

As she walked up the stairs, Iris stopped as Mokuba turned around the corner. "Oh hey Iris!"

"Hello Mokuba," she greeted him. "Are you going to come with Mr. Kaiba and I to the gala tonight?" she asked him.

Mokuba shook his head, "nah I'm not really into those kind of things, besides I have things I have to do." he told her as he ran down the stairs, "make sure Seto has a good time!" he told her.

Iris smiled, it was nice to see how much Mokuba cared about Kaiba and vice versa. From what she had seen just working with them she didn't doubt they were like two peas in a pod. She walked over to the large wooden doors as she carefully knocked on them, she could hear the knocks echo down the hallways as it sent a shiver up her spine. "Enter."

Opening the door, "I'm here." she said as Iris could see Seto looking over more paperwork.

"I can see that," he told her as she walked over to him. She was a bit surprised to see him wearing a black suit, instead of the white or light blue one she had usually seen him wear. He did have his light blue collar shirt on underneath with a navy blue tie, very similar to her dress color.

He finally looked up at Iris as she saw his eyes widen, he stood up from his desk as he walked to her his eyes still fixated on her. Iris blushed as she looked down to avert his gaze, "is it too much?" she nervously asked.

Seto was quiet. She looked absolutely stunning to him, he had no doubt that all eyes would be on Iris tonight as he planned to keep her close to him. Se looked elegant, beautiful, and still like herself, he carefully grabbed a lock of her curled hair as he noticed something different. "You cut your hair," he said.

Iris was shocked that he noticed such a little change. "Umm.. yes I did, I thought it would look nice."

"You look beautiful Iris," Seto said to her as he took hold of her hand. Iris couldn't help but smile, "let's get going." keeping hold of her hand he walked her out of his study and of his home, as they got back inside of the limo.

"So if you don't mind me asking, why did you want me to come early?" she asked him.

Seto looked out the window as they left the property, "I have a surprise in mind for you." he said. They drove around for awhile, as Iris could imagine what Seto had in mind. Though she started to wonder how things are going to be now between them. She didn't know if he was just being nice or if he even liked her.

'In the end, I'll always cherish tonight' Iris thought to herself, as the car stopped.

"We're here."

Seto stepped out first, as he helped Iris out as she gazed where they stopped. The building was fairly large about two stories tall the beautiful golden pillars almost appeared like scales. By its structural appearances it reminded Iris of feudal Japan style homes for the wealthy as the roof had slight curves at the ends and golden adornments along the centers. Looking up a bit Iris saw a jade colored dragon statue at the top, "the Jade Palace?" she whispered.

Taking hold of her hand, Seto guided her up the tall staircase as they were greeted by a woman wearing a black polo shirt and slacks with a white apron around her waist. "Welcome to the Jade Palace." she greeted them.

"Reservation under Kaiba," Seto said as she grabbed a chart.

"Right this way," they followed the woman.

"How long ago did you make this reservation?" Iris asked.

"Does it matter?"

Opening the sliding doors Iris and Kaiba stepped in as they sat at the table, a pot of tea was already waiting for them. From the scent of it, Iris could tell it was a sort of fruity herbal tea "I'll be back shortly," she said as she left.

"I didn't imagine you would take me out to a place like this Seto," Iris said as she carefully poured tea for her and Seto. "You know when this place opened up last year, Mrs. Lancer put in charge of their financial reports." Iris said.

"Did you?"

Iris nodded her head, "yes. It was my first project, of course she helped me and ensured that I understood what I was doing. I actually tried to come here after I did the report, but didn't realize this place was so...well for lack of better words fancy." Iris told him. It definitely was a hard place to get into, you had to make a reservation months in advance and the price was a bit high. "How did you manage to get us a reservation?"

"I have my ways," Seto answered leaving Iris to wonder. He gazed upon her face, she always looked amazing to him but here in front of him now, all dressed up. She was like an angel with her creamy white skin contrasting with the dark blue of her dress. "I think it's time you tell me more about yourself." he told her.

Shocked, Iris looked down, "what do you want to know?" she asked him.

"Anything, just tell me." he said.

"Well I can't just go off of that, I actually need a topic to talk about." she sarcastically told him.

"Fine." Seto spoke. He crossed his arms, "why do you want to be an accountant?"

"My mother was an accountant, and my professors at my school had noticed I had a talent for it so I just decided it was what I was going to study." she answered him. "It made my father really happy to see me excel at something like it."

"Professors?"

Nodding her head, "my father had put me into the best private schools he could find and spared no expense for private tutors to teach me. He pushed me in those classes, so much that I finished high school when I was sixteen." Iris felt the pain of her heart beginning to ache, as she tried to hide it. "I take it your father was hard on you too."

"He would make me study non-stop, it felt like those sessions would never end." he told her.

"That's harsh, but to me it looks like it benefitted in the end. After all you took over when you were just a teenager." she said, "I wouldn't be able to do something like that."

"And why's that?"

Iris looked up at Seto, "because-" she stopped. Iris knew she still wasn't ready yet to tell Seto the whole truth about her, not only was she worried about how he was going to react, but also how it was going to affect them. "It's a personal matter."

Seto could tell she wasn't ready. He was so close to finally hearing her say everything about her past, he's known the truth about her for weeks and yet she still strayed away from speaking a word of it. He wasn't going to push her to tell him, the last thing he wanted to do was to upset her.

"Seto?"

"What?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why are bringing me as your date to the Charity Gala?" Iris asked.

He smiled. "It's a personal matter."

* * *

The ballroom was filled with numerous people of wealth, Iris was beyond amazed at how elegant and sophisticated everyone appeared, to the point that she began to feel a bit undressed for the occasion. She grasped onto Seto's arm a bit tighter as he noticed.

"Don't worry," he said to her as he lead her out to the floor. Iris gazed upon the beautiful decor as the room was well lit by the paper like lanterns that hung from the tall ceiling in shades or orange and pink giving the space warmth. Tables were covered with pearl white clothes as they were packed with gatherings of people chatting and laughing.

Bumping into Seto, Iris looked up at him as they stopped in a fairly open space in the ballroom. "Seto, why did you stop?" she asked him.

Turning towards her, Seto held her hand as he motioned for her to look around. Iris could see a few couples dancing in the open space as the live music played melodies that reminded her of romantic slow dancing. "I assume you know how to dance." he said, as Iris jokingly glared at him.

"If I didn't, that dance class I took in New York was just pointless," Iris sarcastically said as she placed her free hand on Seto's shoulder. Raising their held hands up a bit, Seto placed his other hand on her hip as he lead her on the floor.

They locked eyes as they gracefully swayed on the dance floor, both of their movements were light as Seto raised their hands up as she twirled before returning to the way they were when they started dancing. It felt so natural to him, holding her close to him, dancing with her in his arms, Seto began to feel the warmth in his chest that he did the day he first met her.

"Is that Seto Kaiba?" a man asked, as a few of the guests began to gather around.

"IT is him, but who is that girl with him?" a woman asked.

"Could that be his girlfriend?" another man asked.

"They do make a nice couple,"

Iris blushed as she heard all the comments begin said. "You ok?" Seto asked.

Nodding her head, "yea, it's just...I'm not use to all the attention." she told him, as she felt Seto pull her away from the dance floor as he lead her to a different area. Beyond the crowds of people was a large glass arch door that was wide open. When they reached the outside Iris notice that there was practically no one outside.

The balcony appeared to be composed of marble as Iris saw that it was only a few feet high with the columns being hourglassed shaped. She looked up as she saw the full moon high in the sky, beaming down its radiants night light. "It's beautiful out here."

Seto smirked, "remember when you told me when you were younger you wanted to see the Earth like the stars do?" he asked.

"Yea, it's was because when we went to the station I finally had a part of my memory return. But why do you mention it?" Iris questioned.

"Sometime after Mokuba and I were adopted by Gozaburo, he brought up to one of the few parties he threw. It was here at this place that I met two people," he told her. "But out of the two, I almost forgot one of them."

Iris was confused, "what do you mean?"

Seto walked towards the end of the balcony as Iris followed behind him, "you see I met a girl here. Back then I barely smiled anymore, except for a few rare times, but I could never forget her, she made both Mokuba and I laugh that night… she was the one who reminded us of joy. We came out here and she told me that she wanted to see the Earth like the stars do." Seto explained.

"Seto are you sayi-" Iris was cut off as she felt a sharp pain go through her entire body. Similar to when she first had a piece of her memory return.

Seto caught Iris as he saw her lose her balance, "Iris!"

 _Iris looked around as almost everyone there was twice her size, she looked around as she saw her father talking to another man who had two boys standing beside him. She made her way to her father, "there you are Iris!" she could see the big smile on his face as he ran a hand back through his short black hair._

" _Oh so this is your kid, she'll be quite the heartbreaker when she's older Calvin." the man with the slick back dark hair and mustache said. "Boys say hello." he said._

 _Iris looked as a boy with dark longish hair that was younger than her was wearing a sort of beige like suit as he was standing behind a boy about her age wearing a white suit with brown hair. "Hi!" Iris greeted them._

" _Hello." the older one said._

" _Boy why don't you get to know Iris better, if that's ok with you Calvin." Gozaburo said._

" _Yea, why not." he answered. "Be nice to them Iris."_

 _Nodding her head, Iris and the boys walked away from their fathers. "Come on you guys have got to see this!" she excitingly told them as they made their way to the open arch doors and walked out into the moonlit night. "Isn't it pretty out here!"_

 _She saw both of the boys starting to look a bit more comfortable, "it's better than being in there." the younger brother said as he seemed more relaxed. "I don't really like these kinds of parties."_

" _Me either," Iris said. "But father insist I go to them with him, why did your father make you guys come?"_

" _He's out stepfather, and he's the one throwing the party." the elder brother answered._

" _Oh so you're the Kaiba brothers!"_

Iris pulled herself out of it, as could see the look of concern on Seto's face. "I'm fine." she told him.

"Did your memory come back?" he asked her.

Nodding her head, "yes it did...Seto...I did meet you before here, when we were kids…" she said. "Is that why you wanted to bring me here?"

"It took me awhile to find out why that sounded familiar to me, but I figured I could give it a try, but that's not the reason." he told her, Seto held Iris close to him as he looked into her bright blue eyes. "It's hard to explain, but I just wanted to do it…" he said.

"Seto…"

He couldn't find the right words to say. Seto couldn't deny how he felt, he had never let anyone close to him before, not as close as he let Iris. She was someone who important to him, who meant something to him. He always pushed people away to ensure he and Mokuba were safe, but now he wanted to make sure his own little brother and Iris were safe.

"Thank you." Iris said.

"For what?"

"For today, for everything." she told him, "no one has done anything like this for me." she said.

Seto cupped the side of her face with his hand, as he saw Iris slowly close her eyes. He carefully leaned in as he could feel the whisper touch of her lips against his as he quickly closed the distance between them. Iris wrapped her arms around his neck, as Seto pulled her in close to him. It felt so natural to both of them, they both knew they couldn't fight it anymore.

They slowly pulled away as their foreheads touched, "Seto."

He didn't respond as he kissed her once again, as they kissed again and again in the moonlight.

* * *

The office was pitch dark as a man covered in the shadows of the night sat a large desk. He could hear the sound of the door open, "what do you want?" he asked.

A woman wearing a long sleeve dark green dress stepped into the moonlight, in her hand she held a glass filled halfway up with red wine as her other hand held her phone. Her bleach blonde hair was pulled into a braid as the bags under her eyes could tell tales of her sleepless nights. "You may want to see this." she said as she threw her phone to the shadow man.

He grabbed the phone as he could see on the screen a picture of a couple dancing, one looking oddly familiar to him. "What am I looking at here Ruby?" he asked.

"I'm surprised you asked that Gregory, afterall I thought you would remember your boss." she said as she gulped down her glass of wine before carelessly throwing it as it shattered.

"So this is Iris huh? What about the guy with her?" he asked.

"From what I've got, he's Seto Kaiba, President of KaibaCrop. Looks to me that those two are pretty close." she said, "she might be trying to form a partnership with him." she suggested. "That girl is starting to get ahead of us."

"Ruby you know we cannot do anything, Iris probably planning on coming back soon." he said. "I've tried everything I could to see if there was something I could do, anything we could dig up to see if there was a way we could prove Jade to be rightful heir, but there's not!" he exclaimed. "Face it, our goal of taking this place over is coming to an end."

Ruby walked towards the large window as she gazed out with her brown eyes, "that might be true...however, we may have overlooked one thing." she said. "Maybe time is coming to an end, but who said it had to be….our time." she grinned, as she began to laugh at the thoughts in her head.


	13. Burning Rage

"Today's the big day! You excited?" Iris asked, as she watched Seto gather the last of the documents he needed.

Today was no ordinary day, it was the beginning to the Kaiba Land project. Her first time entering Kaiba Land, and their first step into it. Iris did feel mixed emotions of nervousness and excitement, but she could only begin to imagine how Seto felt. "This project could still take months to finish." he said.

Iris walked over to him as she stood behind him, as he sat in his seat skimming over the documents once again. Placing her hands on his shoulders she gently massaged his broad shoulders, as Seto felt the stress melt away. "Knowing you, I bet you it could be done by next month." she smiled at him.

Kissing him on the cheek, a ring chimed out as Seto pulled his phone from his pocket. "I've gotta take this, go get Mokuba and wait in the car." he told her as Iris nodded her head, before quickly leaving the study. Running down the steps, Iris saw Mokuba waiting for her with a grin on his face. "Looks like you beat me today Mokuba!" she said to him as they high fived.

"Wasn't hard," he joked as Iris saw a serious look on his face. "Hey Iris?"

"What's up Mokuba?" she asked.

He looked down before looking back at Iris, "promise me you won't hurt Seto ok?" he said, as Iris was shocked by his words. "When Seto got home from that night that you guys when to the gala, I saw him smile...that was the first time I have seen him smile in years."

Iris could feel her heart hurt, she understood what hardships these two had gone through. Afterall they were there for each other when things were at their bests and worst. "Oh Mokuba."

"Mokie." he said, "Seto use to call me that...if you don't mind, could you call me that?" he asked her.

Ruffling his hair, Iris smiled. "Of course Mokie, and don't worry I promise you I won't hurt Seto." she reassured him as she heard him sigh, "now come on, let's get to the car."

They didn't wait long as Seto quickly got inside as they took off down the road, as they drove down the road Iris could begin to see the pointed cylindrical tops of a fortress in the distance. A large gate could be see too as there were lines of people waiting to enter. "Busy as always," Mokuba said as he noticed the crowd.

"I knew it was popular, but I never imagined so many people would be here just waiting to get inside." Iris said quietly, as they drove thru the gate entering into the park. The car stopped, as they got out quickly. Looking up she could see different types of buildings that appeared to be shops and little restaurants. There were rides all around that concepts were inspired by Duel Monsters.

"Have you never been here before Iris?" Mokuba asked.

Shaking her head, "oh no I haven't. But this place is incredible!"

"Well of course it is! Kaiba Land is the project that Seto and I had waited years to finally come true and we did it!"

"Your dream?"

Mokuba nodded his head, "I'll tell you more about it later, but after all our hard work we finally got Kaiba Land up and it's been busy ever since." he explained.

Seto began to walk ahead, "we've got work to do, now let's go." he said. As they walked along Iris could see seas of children laughing as parents were smiling to at the joy of their child's happiness. To think an amusement park was able to bring this much joy to so many people, she herself couldn't help but smile. "Iris you're falling behind!" Seto shouted as Iris could see them down quit a way.

"I'm sorry!" she said as she ran to them. "Forgive me I got distracted." she apologized.

"Don't let it happen again," Seto said as he turned towards Mokuba. "Go the main control room and look over the software for the Duel Stadium, Iris you're coming with me." he instructed as Mokuba and Roland went off in a different direction as Iris followed closely behind Seto.

They walked for a bit as Iris could see what appeared to be the eyes of the Blue Eyes White Dragon glaring at her. She felt a shiver run up her body as she was almost frozen, granted it was more oval shaped the intricate details of the eyes and teeth were enough to scare her. "Is this it?"

Seto nodded his head, "let's go." he told her as they walked to the doors as they automatically slide open.

Walking into the long hallway, their footsteps echoed out. Iris couldn't help but notice a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't a feeling she was use to before, it was different. It was almost like a message, but one she couldn't decipher.

Exiting the hallway Iris saw a large dueling stage in the very center, from the look of it she could tell that it had seen better days. Looking around a bit she could see dueling rings around the space that appeared to be for those who used duel disks as projection stands were posted in the four corners of the the few spaces. "So what are your plans regarding this renovation?" she asked.

"Simple, I want to tear down all of these rings and put up a four-on-four dueling stage here in the center. As far as having additional rings in here I have yet to decide." he explained to her.

"I see, well I'm going to need an estimate for the construction of it and see how it fits in the budget." she told him as she felt Seto's hand lay gently on her cheek, she looked up at him briefly as she closed her eyes as she could feel him leaning closer to her.

Seto gently placed a kiss on her forehead, before pulling her close to him. "Don't worry, I'll give you what you want later." he teased her.

"Seto...one kiss isn't going to hurt." Iris begged. He would always do sweet things like this, she loved it when he showed his affection for her. It was the one thing that she never wanted him to change.

"Later, after lunch." he said to her, as he heard her laugh. "What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing." she smiled as she grabbed his hand. "Care to show me where you plan to build your next stadium?"

"Only if you accept my challenge to a duel." he said as she rolled her eyes, he knew that she wasn't that good at dueling, but still it wouldn't hurt to try one match against him.

"If you let me get my deck from the car then I'll take you on." she said to him.

Seto squeezed her hand, "Good. After that we can discuss the budget for the-"

 **THUD!**

The loud thud of the security doors startled the both as they jumped back, they watched as the ways out were being sealed off by the large metal curtains. "Seto what's going on?!" Iris asked as she felt her heart beginning to race as the lights were starting to flicker at a strange pace. "Did your system have a malfunction?"

"Impossible, my software has never had any issue!" he answered as they both looked around at the strange phenomenon.

"Then what do you think is going on?" she grabbed his arm.

Seto's eyes widened as he remembered a similar incident like this years ago, "my system might have been hacked!" he yelled.

"Hacked!?" she questioned as the pulled out her phone. "Mokuba can you hear me?" Iris asked as she could hear static in the background. "Mokuba?!" she yelled his name as she was beginning to panic.

"I-Ir-I-Iris!" she could barely hear Mokuba over the static, "th-the s-system isn't re-responding!" the call dropped as she could only assume any service they had was beginning jammed somehow.

"Someone is blocking anyway of communication we have!" she told Seto as Iris could smell a distinct scent permeate the air. Looking up at the ceiling she could see dark plumes of smoke accumulating before slowly falling down towards them. She could spot the red and orange hues of light that were pouring out of two of the hallways. "Fire!"

Grabbing her hand Seto pulled her in the opposite direction as they could hear the fiery waves of heat beginning to envelope what was around them. Reaching one of the doors Kaiba pulled out a white card as he tried to slide it through the reader as the lights on it were flashing red. "No good, whoever did this changed the passcodes!"

"Well we can just stay in here! We'll die if we don't find a way out!" Iris yelled as the smoke had caught up to them. "Cover your mouth and nose!" she instructed as they both pulled their sleeves above their hands and covered their faces.

They both crouched down as Iris began to cough, everything was starting to fill up with smoke fast as she could see the fire swallowing more of the stadium. "Mr. Kaiba!" they heard Roland shouting, "Mr. Kaiba! Iris!"

"Roland!" Iris coughed, "we're over here!" she banged on the metal shield as they could barely hear the sound of Roland running towards the closed off door. "Roland!"

"Mr. Kaiba! Iris! We got one of the doors open, but you both need to hurry the fire is spreading and fast!" he informed them.

"I can tell!" Seto said, as he stood up, "Iris we have to go now!" he grabbed her hand and pulled her up as they ran out of the hallways.

The space was filled with flames as they felt like their bodies were burning up from this, Iris could see one hallway filled with a bright white light. "Look there!" she pointed out as they could see Roland appear from the light.

"This way and hurry!" Roland shouted as a few beams were beginning to fall down.

"Come on!" Seto said, as they both make a break for it towards the light. Everything felt like it was going by in slow motion. The flames were dancing as eating what was around them, as it was almost like they were overjoyed to take something and turn it to ash. The projection stands were knocked down and beginning to melt and the glass bursted from the heat.

Iris felt her body starting to get weak, as the heat and smoke were beginning to take its toll on her. "We're gonna make it!" she yelled as she wanted to breath in the fresh air and purify her lungs of the toxins that were polluting her body.

With each breath she took she felt like her body was beginning slow down more and more, the smoke had a vice grip around her throat as it was like it was choking her.

 **BOOM!**

The dueling stage began to succumb to the heat as part of it were beginning to explode, the blast of one explosion knocked Iris back against a wall as she fell to the ground. Trying to push herself up, she couldn't feel any energy in her arms. Her whole body began to feel weaker and weaker as the heat was starting to become too much for her to handle. "Seto…" she whispered. Blood ran down her forehead as her head was slumped down, it ran into her eye as she could barely see out of it. Her body was riddled with pain, as it continuously shot through her. "Help me."

"Mr. Kaiba!" Roland was relieved to see his boss as he made it out of the fire, "we have to hurry and quick!" he told him as he was about ready to run.

Making it outside, Seto gasped for fresh air as he coughed. He felt a sense in him ringing as something didn't seem right to him.

Looking around Seto began to panic, "where's Iris!?" he shouted as he could barely see her a distance away. "I'm not leaving her behind!" he said as Roland grabbed him. "Let me go!" he demanded.

"Mr. Kaiba please, it's too dangerous!" he begged as Seto broke out of his grasp.

"I'm not going to leave Iris behind!" Seto told him, as he charged his way back into the fire towards Iris. "Iris!" he said her name when he reached her as he turned her over on her back. A duel projector feel close to him, as he felt the searing pain of the broken hot metal slice threw his jacket and down his arm.

Seto grabbed his arm as he ripped his sleeve off and wrapped the fabric around his wound, as to stop the bleeding. He took one look as he saw that she was unconscious, it felt like her body was already starting to drop in temperature as she wasn't responsive. Her arms were limp as her head hanged back.

"Don't worry Iris! I'll get you out of here!" he told her as he made it back to Roland.

Running a distance away from the Dueling Stadium, Seto kneeled down as he placed Iris on the ground. A crowd of people slowly started to form as Seto put a hand to Iris's face, "Roland we need an ambulance now!" Mokuba shouted as Seto paid no attention to them.

"Mr. Kaiba! You're wounded!" Roland pointed out as Mokuba saw it too as a thin trail of blood ran down his arm and began to puddle below him.

"Seto you needed to get that treated!"

"Iris...Iris… please wake up." He could barely see her chest moving as a sign that her breathing was shallow. "We need the ambulance now Mokuba!" he shouted as the sounds of the sirens were going off.

"Iris...you'll be alright… I promise you…" Seto whispered as the ambulance pulled up to them as a group of EMTs jumped out of the ambulance, placing Iris on a gurney they loaded Iris into the ambulance.

"Sir you're wounded! You need to have that looked at!" One of the EMT's said, as Seto shook his head.

"Your main priority is that girl! I'll be fine, just go!" he said as they didn't waste a second to fight with him about his arm as they sped off.

"Mokuba I'm going to the hospital, while I'm gone look into who hacked into the system and ensure this area is closed off!" Seto commanded Mokuba.

"What about your arm!?" Mokuba asked.

"I'll have it taken care of when I get there, just do what needs to be done!"

"On it! I'll make sure we find out who did this!" Mokuba replied, as he made a promise to himself that he would find the person who hurt Iris and almost costed him his brother.

"Roland get my car!" Roland nodded his head, as they both ran off.

Seto looked at the could barely see the lights of the ambulance, 'you better be awake when I get there Iris...please'.


	14. Reunion in Limbo

Seto paced back and forth in the quiet, empty waiting room as the pain in his arm didn't matter to him. For the last four hours Seto felt like he had been put through an excruciating eternity. Not knowing what was wrong, or if there was anything majorly wrong.

The large doors to the ICU opened as the doctor stepped into the waiting room, Seto rushed up to him. "Is Iris ok?" he asked him as the doctor gave the charts he had in his hand to Seto.

"Due to the large amount of smoke Iris was exposed to and the damage that she sustained to her back and head it seems that she slipped into a coma," the doctor explained as Seto felt his heart starting to tighten. "I can't tell you how long she'll be in it or when she would wake up. At this point Iris needs to wake up herself." the doctor explained as he took the charts back from Seto. "If you would like you can come see her." he said as Seto followed him.

Walking down the hallway it began to grow harder and harder for him to breathe as they reached a door, pushing it open Seto rushed inside as he felt his heart drop. Laying in the white sheet bed was her, eyes closed shut with an oxygen mask over her face. IV's were inserted in her arms and wrists as the sounds of the monitors beeped at their own rates.

Seto approached her as he gently grabbed her hand, wanting to feel her grip around him, wanting to feel how it felt when he held her hand with their fingers intertwined. She would always hold onto him a bit tighter. He noticed that her hands felt icy cold.

"Iris…" he whispered her name as his head dropped. He should have been more careful he should have protected her better.

"Mr. Kaiba...I know this is bad timing but I need to have the contacts of Iris's immediate family. I need to notify them of what's-"

"Her family isn't around anymore!" Seto cut him off, as he knew that Iris wouldn't want her family to show their faces around here. He understood that her stepfamily didn't mean anything to her because of their actions and if allowed them to show up here she would never forgive him.

The doctor nodded his head. "Very well, I'll update you on her condition if there are any changes. You may visit with her for a bit, but not that long want to look over your wound on your arm since." he said to him.

"My arm is fine." he answered him coldly.

"Mr. Kaiba will all due respect I understand that you want to stay with her, but you need to also be wary of your own personal well being." The doctor started, "you fought us when we tried to put stitches in your arm since your wound is so deep. And I will not write you off to return back to work unless you allow us to do that."

"You would hinder me the ability to go back to work because of a minor wound?" Seto questioned him. His eyes glanced down at the once white bandages, as he could see his own crimson blood beginning to stain the gaze. "Fine, but make it quick. Just let me have a few minutes with Iris."

The doctor turned away as he left the room. Seto pulled a chair closeby towards the bed as he sat down. He had seen her take a quick nap a few times during the long nights working the accounting aspects for the work needed for Kaiba Land, those times she looked so peaceful, serene, almost like in a sense of tranquility.

This wasn't one of those times.

Even in her sleep he could see the pain in her close eyes. Everytime she exhaled her mask would cloud up only for a second before it began the translucent green color that it was. He didn't know how this all happened, he didn't know how the dome could have caught fire. Everything in there was up to date.

Feeling a slight vibration in his pocket, Seto pulled his phone out as he held it up to his ear. "What is it?"

"Mr. Kaiba, Mokuba and I have found a few things that you need to see regarding the fire!" Roland said.

Seto's eyes widened. "You did!?" Seto knew this could expose who did this and hopefully a motive why. This fire was something that could have been caused by anyone who could have had a grudge against the Kaiba family. "Meet me in my office in one hour." he said.

"Wait Seto!" Mokuba cut in, just as Seto was about to hang up the phone. "How's Iris doing?"

Seto hesitated for a second. "She's in a coma, the doctor doesn't know if she's going to wake up soon."

Mokuba went silent for a brief moment, "and what about you?"

"I just need some stitches for the wound that I suffered, once that's done I'll be over." he told him as he hanged up the phone.

He return his gaze to Iris, "I promise you I will find who did this, and I will make them pay. I promise you this Iris." he said to her as he placed a kiss upon her forehead.

* * *

Having returned to his office, Seto looked over the videos that Mokuba and Roland were able to find. "See right there!" Mokuba pointed out as they saw a dark clad figure at the top of the Dueling Dome, and according to the time stamp on the tape very early this morning. Seto could barely see the figure messing around with a few things, until the video went dark.

"From there sir, it's safe to assume whoever was working with them was able to disable the cameras for a moment." Roland added.

"Either way it's something, those fools left us a clue. Do you guys have any leads on who could have done this?" he asked them.

Both of them were silent. "We're still trying to get a clearer image from the video, and cross check it with the criminal data bases." Mokuba said dishearteningly. It pained him to see his brother trying to cover up the pain he felt, he could only imagine how bad this was hurting him. "But I won't stop until I have a lead for us to follow on, I'm still looking at who could have hacked into the system! I'm not going to stop looking until I find them!" Mokuba declared.

It brought Seto a bit of comfort knowing his little brother was so determined to help as he nodded his head, as Mokuba and Roland walked out of the room.

Before he could begin to even fathom who and why this all happened, Seto heard his phone ringing as he hit a button. "What is it?" he asked.

"Mr. Kaiba, you have a Mr. Yugi Muto trying to contact you. Shall I put them through?" Kaya informed him.

He shook his head, "fine." he said as he waited a brief moment. The little screen next to his phone showed Yugi and the dweb patrol sitting together as he could see the looks of concern on their faces. "What do you guys want?"

"Kaiba we heard the news, we're sorry that one of your attractions was destroyed but Tea and Mai told us that you and Iris were going there. We just want to make sure that you both, well mainly Iris is ok." Duke explained.

"Yea, now where is she?" Joey demanded as they could see that she wasn't by Kaiba's side like she normally was when she was scheduled to work.

"We made plans to meet up for lunch today, but we haven't been able to get ahold of her and she's not at her apartment. So please Kaiba, just tell us!" Tea begged, as he could see her eyes were swollen from tears of worry.

Seto took a deep breath, even though he didn't get along with them well he knew that Iris would be upset if he didn't inform them of what's happened to her. He fought back the emotions he felt, as he saw that they all were letting those emotions out for him. "If you want to see Iris go to the hospital. She's in a coma." he told him. He saw their faces as sadness took over Mai and Tea, as Serenity buried her face in her brother's shoulder. Joey and the other guys just looked down at the ground as they looked more distraught than they did when they first called him.

Things were quiet between them as the silence and seeing Iris's friends upset over what happened to her was starting to eat at him, slowly weakening the iron wall he spent so much time building. Kaiba was about to hang up the phone, "wait!" Tristan shouted

"What is it?"

"So why aren't you with her?" he asked as they all turned their attention to Kaiba. "She was with you when it happened, and now she's in a coma!" Tristan started. "The kindest, more caring woman we know and is our friend is in the hospital in a coma and you're not there with her! She cares so much about you and you're just sitting at your desk working!" he went off.

Seto snapped.

"Don't you think I want to be there!?" he began venting. "I wanted to stay at her side, but I found out that someone made the accident happen! I'm going to find him and make him pay for what he did to Iris!" he let it out as he hanged up the phone on them.

Burying his face in his hands Seto shook his head. In the past he had came so close to losing his younger brother as the devastating thoughts of his failure to save him hurt him. But now. Having someone he let into his life, who had finally returned into his life that was the one of few people who was able to make him smile was not at his side. Seto knew he had to find the person who did this.

He needed to.

* * *

" _Iris sweetheart…" a man's voice rang in her ear. It was a familiar voice as she felt someone shake her. "Come on now it's time to wake up." he spoke again._

 _Shaking her head, "no...five more minutes." Iris hastily opened her eyes, as they completely opened. Surrounded by a never ending abyss of light, there was no warmth, no source of where the light was coming from. "Where the hell am I…." she questioned, looking down she noticed she was sitting on a brown wooden chair. "What is going on?"_

" _This is what many would call limbo… a state of uncertainty where you can decide if you stay or go." Iris turned her attention towards the man's voice, as her jaw dropped. Sitting behind the large mahogany desk sat_ _ **him.**_

 _He looked exactly like he did the last day she saw him. Short black hair that had a slight fade down the sides with accents of silver. Wearing a black suit with a silk navy blue tie that contrasted with the same bright blue eyes that she inherited from him. His hands were folded together on the table, as he simply smiled at her. "Father?"_

 _He nodded his head, "it's been a long time Iris. What now...almost 5 years." he said sadly._

 _Iris's eyes filled with tears, as she rose from the seat she sat in. "Father!" As she approached him, his whole space moved back. "Why….why can't I..?"_

" _Iris. You're in limbo right now. And I'm long gone." he told her as she stepped back to her chair as his space moved to it's original space. "Iris…. You're in a coma right now, and from what I can guess from the damage your physical body had sustained has left you in limbo. You can decide if you wish to stay in your world...or leave." he explained to her._

 _Iris's mind was a complete blur. "I don't understand...I was just fine...how could I-?"_

" _The fire." her father cut her off._

 _It came back to her. "That's right...I was trapped in the fire and something exploded and then everything went black…" she said to herself, "but wait how do you know?"_

" _Iris...your mother and I have been watching over you since our departures." he said._

" _You and mom?" she whispered, as she heard heels clicking amongst the invisible ground. A woman soon began to materialize before her eyes. She wore a lavender dress that had a slight slit that trailed past the knee, it was a strapped dress that hanged from the woman's shoulders as her ebony hair was curled and came to about her shoulders. "Mom…"_

 _The woman nodded her head, "yes. I'm surprised you know who I am...I never had the chance to be apart of your life Iris...I'm so sorry that you had to face such a hard life…. I owe you both an apology."_

" _Nonsense my darling, it's my fault that my death occurred and that Iris almost lost her own."_

" _What?!" Iris shouted as they both jumped back, "what do you mean!?"_

 _Iris heard her father sigh as her mother looked down. "Iris….there's a reason my spirit hasn't been able to move on from here. I've kept secrets from you that I wanted to tell you the day that I died. And now I have that chance."_

" _Like what?"_

" _Iris as you know you're the only heir to Botania Industries. You're the rightful heir and the only one we could conceive." her mother said. "It took us years to finally have a child and upon our final try we were fortunate enough to have you, however after you were born...I died three days later." she explained._

 _Covering her eyes, Iris began to cry out as she felt a dagger pierce her heart. "Why are you telling me this?!"_

" _Iris...there's more to the test you need to take to inherit the business than just taking a blood test. These are things I needed to tell you after you graduated, but never got the chance and your mother never got the chance to see you grow up or say goodbye." he explained. "I know this is hard sweetheart, but please try to be strong." he cried._

 _Iris pulled herself together. "Daddy…"_

" _A few years after your mother's death I was looking to employ a new assistant, and one of them was….that woman." he said. "I will not lie to you, she did flirt with me in front of many of our employees, but she didn't get the job, but she did persistently come to see me. Until one day….I did something...something that I terribly regret." her father began to explain._

" _Don't tell me…" Iris said._

" _Unfortunately, yes." He shook his head. "A month later she told me she was pregnant."_

" _So does that mean that Jade is my half sister?"_

 _Her father shook her head, "there's no way that's possible. Iris….after your mother's death I decided that having you in my life was enough you looked so much like your mother from when she was a baby that I decided that I shall no longer have the ability to have anymore children. The thought of your mother dying from childbirth….it terrified me to think it could happen to anyone else."_

" _So Jade has no Botania blood in her afterall...did Ruby know about um...your condition?"_

" _No she didn't, but when she came to me and said she was pregnant, she also threatened that if I didn't marry her she would go to the media and press right away. I couldn't risk having everything your mother and I work for go down the drain because of bad publicity, I've seen many business fall because of it. So….I gave in and married her."_

" _Dad… you're such an idiot….you married her for the stupidest of reasons and because of that choice that woman put me through hell! She was such an awful mother to me, that I never referred to her as my step-mother all she was, was a greedy bitch!" Iris let out._

" _Iris you have every right to be mad at me, but I didn't want what she did to our business to haunt you either when you took over. You see Iris, before you graduation I had learned something that could rid her of our lives. I learned who Jade's real father was...and I wanted to tell you my plan, but I never got the chance."_

" _Ok so who is her real father?"_

" _Your father's Vice President. The one who's watching over Botania Industries right now, Gregory Chaptin." her mother said._

" _So...he's her real father?"_

 _They both shook their heads, "yes. When I found out I had confronted both him and Ruby about that and was about to begin the procedures for the divorce. I didn't want to alarm you or anything so I began this in your last months of school while you were away, but a week before my death Ruby wasn't happy about not being able to receive alimony or any type of funds threw me. You see Ruby is still married to Gregory, but their relationship is very distant as I can assume you saw over the years of their interactions." he explained._

 _Iris pondered at her thoughts and memories, "I mean kind of, I still don't have all the memories I lost in that accident, but wait...if she was still married to Gregory does that mean she was in a polygamous marriage? So you had ground to divorce her since she provided false documents of their false divorce correct?"_

" _Not quite. You see she did have a false document of divorce but Gregory's last name wasn't on it and when I looked over it I saw it was fake. Jameson helped find the rest of the information I needed."_

" _So when she knew she wasn't going to get anything….." Iris put everything together in her head. "No!"_

" _Yes. The day of my death, she most likely had her brother try to take both of us out, but he only got me. You were sparred."_

" _No! That vile evil woman! She took you away from me! It's all her fault!" Iris cried out. Here she was in a life and death situation and now she's learning about painful parts of her past from her deceased parents._

" _Iris, this brings me to what I need to tell you. The reason why you're in limbo."_

 _Iris sniffled as she wiped her face of her tears. "Why?"_

" _It's only a theory, but I believe that fire was meant as a way to try and kill you. If you chose to go back to your life, you need to look at the cameras and if you see that someone messed with the vicinity that caught fire look up a man known as Dyle Prevent. He's Ruby's little brother, you never met him but did and if you pull up his records you'll see why." he told her._

" _What do you mean if I chose to?" she questioned them._

" _Iris you have a decision to either continue the life you have back on Earth….or to move on." her mother answered her._

 _Iris didn't know what to think or chose. With so much that has happened in her life she didn't know what path would be easier. If she chose to move on...then maybe the pain she felt for so long would finally go away. "I chose…"_

' _Iris…' she heard what sounded like Seto's voice speak in her head, 'please wake up….I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better, but please...wake up. Your friends miss you so much, they come here to talk to you everyday. But most of all...nothing is the same without you...so please wake up.' he sounded so sad. Like he almost defeated._

" _I chose to live. I'm not going to let that evil woman get away with what she has done to our family! I'm not going to let Botania Industries fall because I chose to run away from life! My friends need me, Jameson needs me, even the man I've fallen in love with needs me! They need me to live!" she told them._

 _Her parents both smiled. "Good choice sweetheart."_

" _You've grown up to be such a strong woman Iris. You make me so proud." her mother said._

" _That's because I'm your child, I'm Iris Primrose Botania. The true daughter of Calvin Botania and Delilah Jones-Botania. And we Botania's fight until our last breath!"_

* * *

Seto sat close to Iris as he held her hand, he came everyday to see her for the past week but she was still asleep. Her room was filled with bouquets of flowers, as the sweet floral scent did nothing to help soothe his pain. "Iris…. I just want you to wake up." he said to her as he felt her hand squeeze his.

His eyes widened, as he watched her slowly open her eyes. "Seto…" she whispered, "where am I?"

He was speechless. "It doesn't matter where you are….you're finally back."


	15. Confession

"Watch your step," Seto told her as he had his arms around her as they both made their way down the stairs away from the hospital. Today was the day that she was finally released with a clean bill of health.

"Seto...I may have been in a coma for a week, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to walk." she joked as she looked at his arm. Even though she couldn't see it, the mark on his arm was long and red still, she knew that it would leave a scar. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

Seto stopped as he wrapped his arms around Iris, "it's just a scratch. What's important now is that you're ok." he told her, as she felt him kiss her forehead. "Now let's get you home." he said to her, as Roland was parked the black limo out front as he opened the door.

"Good to see you're doing better Miss Iris," he said as Seto and Iris climbed in the back as Roland shut the door. The car started to move as Iris rubbed her head.

She was surprised that she remembered all that information while she was in limbo. The fact that she was even in limbo surprised her the most. To think her parents were watching over her still even after their passing, and that vile woman who ruined her life was free.

Iris sighed, "Iris we found something on the day of the accident." Seto spoke as she nearly snapped her neck at what he said.

"You did?!"

Seto nodded his head, "yes unfortunately we didn't get a good image of the person who tampered with the Dueling Dome." he told her as even he was frustrated at the fact that they weren't able to find much from their only lead.

Iris knew the name of the man that her father had told her to look into, the only person he believed could have responsible for her father's death and attempting to take hers, twice. "Seto...I think I may know who is responsible for this." she said.

"Who?" Seto said shockingly.

"A man named Dyle Prevent, he's the younger brother to my wicked stepmother. From what I know he's quite the character." she told him, as she relayed the message her father told her to him.

"If you think he's someone worth looking at, then I'll have Mokuba get started on that immediately." he told her. Looking out her window, Iris watched as the familiar building passed by her. To think she was so close to never being able to see them again, to be with her friends again.

It was almost like a dream, to survive two crashes that could have ended it all. But in the end she was able to pull through and still be around. Iris knew though that she wasn't out of the woods just yet. She needed to make sure that she was right and the woman who had caused her so much pain would pay.

Feeling the car stop, Iris and Seto stepped out. "I hope you didn't go in my apartment while I was asleep." Iris joked as they made their way up the flight of stairs.

"I didn't." he answered her, as they stopped at her door. Looking at the fake tree that was next to her door Iris reached for her usual hiding spot for her key, but didn't feel it. "Is something wrong?"

Her heartbeat quickened. "I can't find my spare key. Usually I hide it here." she said to him. Looking at the door, she hesitantly reached for the knob as with the slightest bit of pressure she felt the door was unlocked. "Someone might be inside." she said.

They were both frozen, as Seto moved her aside and swung the door to her apartment wide open. As he saw inside, Seto carefully looked around as the scent of tea hit him. "There's definitely someone here." he told her, as Iris carefully stepped inside.

Iris knew this scent, it was a tea her father would drink in the morning before his big meetings. The smell of it alone brought back many of her memories. "I see you still drink father's favorite tea Jameson," she spoke out loud as the sounds of footsteps emerged from the kitchen. "The Earl's Fortune Grey."

Seto was shocked that she knew the man that was in her apartment. She had never mentioned of him before. "Ah Miss Iris, do forgive me if I had known you would be home so soon I would have made extra." he apologized.

"It's quite alright, father may have loved that tea but I was never fond of it." she said. It had been years since she had last seen Jameson in person. "You know it's not very polite to just enter someone's apartment without their knowledge."

"Nor is it smart to leave your spare key in a compartment of a fake plant." he commented back at her. "Now who is this?" he asked as he looked at Seto.

"Jameson, this is Seto Kaiba, he's the President of Kaiba Corp." she told him. "Seto this is Jameson, he's my uncle."

"Uncle?" he questioned.

Iris nodded her head, "my father's half brother. He and I are the last of the Botanias left."

Jameson smiled, "well this is quite the surprise I didn't know you were close to one of the top dogs in Domino." he said.

Iris sighed. "Jameson I know you're not here for a friendly visit after my stay at the hospital. What's going on?" she asked him, as motioned for them to follow them to the living room. They sat down on the couches as Iris watched him pull out his silver metal briefcase.

"Well Miss Iris, I found some things you may find interesting." he told her as he placed a few folders in front of her. "The first one you want to look at is the one on top." he said, as she grabbed it and opened it up.

Inside she saw photos of her stepmother and Vice President from what appeared to be from a few decades ago, along with a marriage certificate, and few other sheets of paper. "So Ruby is married to Gregory isn't she."

Seto looked over the papers with Iris as he could see there was something wrong. "There's also a divorce papers in here." he said as he grabbed the marriage certificate and divorce papers.

"Quite observant," Jameson remarked. "You see I did my research on their relationship. It would appear to me that they both married young, however, if you notice the divorce papers aren't legitimate. There are numerous mistakes in the sentencing and it wasn't stamped or anything, you see they are still married."

Just like her father had told her. "I see, so I take it father learned this and was going to use this in the divorce case." she said.

"That's correct. However, in this folder here," Jameson tapped the folder at the bottom, "this is something you need to see."

Iris pulled it out as she records of doctors visits, and a paternity test. "These are documents for when Ruby was pregnant with Jade." Iris whispered. She skimmed over the papers, "my father was never Jade's real father, she really is Ruby and Gregory's daughter." she said.

"I'm going to take it her stepmother knew and still tried to pass off their daughter as Iris's half-sister." Seto said.

"You're both correct. Of course your father already knew that the child wasn't his, however, foolish as the reason was he didn't want the negative publicity ruin his company or your name. He wanted to protect you and what he worked so hard for." he explained.

"I can see that, but still it's not fair to anyone to have to deal with that woman in any way." Iris said as she grabbed the last folder on the table. "What's in this one?" she asked.

"Someone you need to look into." he said.

"Dyle Prevent?" Seto asked, as Jameson's eyes widened.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I remember father mentioning that name once before and that he was related to Ruby in some way. It never hurts to look him up." Iris said as she opened the file. Immediately her eyes were drawn to the criminal history report along with other documents and details of previous crimes. "Quite the guy."

"Dyle is a very manipulative man, has been for years according to his record. He can make anyone do anything for him...including…"

"Including murder." Iris whispered.

"Miss Iris while I was looking into Dyle's file I saw a name in there that looked familiar." Jameson started. "On the day of you and your father's accident the person in the car who hit you was a man by the name of Borris Naget. He had ties to Dyle, but since Dyle was locked up at the time and there was no record of communications between the two of them no additional charges could have pressed against Dyle." he explained.

Feeling the tears in her eyes beginning to well up, Iris tried her best to choke down her feelings as she tried to think calmly. "Did they ever look into Ruby or Gregory and see if he had communicated with them?" she asked.

"They did but unfortunately Borris was also killed in the accident, so any real lead they had was already six feet under." Jameson told her. "Even when they looked at the log, the only one who any contact with Dyle was his sister Ruby but there was no record of any conversation of them saying anything of Borris or of the accident. The authorities didn't have enough to charge her with anything."

"Or they could have been bribed." Seto said as they both looked at him in surprise.

"What are you saying?" Iris asked.

Seto crossed his arms. "There are people who have a price, you pay the price they can make things disappear."

Jameson and Iris both looked upset at this, they were both so wound up in thinking of Ruby's part in the plan that they didn't think to look up anything else. "You make a very good point Mr. Kaiba, it'll have to be something I look into." Jameson said as he started to get up.

"I have a question for you." Seto spoke. "If you're Iris's uncle, and half brother of her father, why is it that you didn't take over after your brother's death?" he asked. It had been bugging him since Iris had revealed that Jameson was her uncle.

Iris looked down at the ground not wanting to say anything.

A sigh was released from Jameson as a sullen looked came over him, "with my brother gone, and my only niece and family member left alive….I confess I didn't do what I should have. Instead I was talked into by Gregory to let him take control until Iris was ready. I was a fool...and now because of my actions….my brother and sister-in-laws hard work is in jeopardy."

Jameson felt the guilt flow threw him, he knew there were so many things he could have done to prevent so many of the events that riddled both him and Iris's lives. "Uncle...we can still save it." Iris said as her voice snapped him back into the present. "We already know everything about them and how we can stop them...we just need to fight back!" Iris said.

Both Seto and Jameson saw her determination. It was her family's company. It was her duty to protect it. "I refuse to sit by and let those fools get in my way! It's time we put them back in there place!"

"Said like a true Botania!" Jameson cheered.

Seto saw the fire in her eyes once again, the same fiery determination of when they first met, the same heat of her own sheer willpower to achieve what she wanted. That same spirit that had drawn him to her.

* * *

Iris stood on the balcony of her apartment with a black blanket draped over her shoulders. Tomorrow was the day. The day she and Jameson reclaim Botania Industries and take out those who ruined their lives. She knew it was time.

"You know you should be resting." she heard Seto say as she looked back and saw him standing in the opened doorway.

"I know...but…." Seto stood behind her, "it's just...I never thought it would come to this. I will admit I never liked them, but I know I can't hold back."

"Well you two aren't going to do it alone." he told her. Seto pulled something from his pocket as he placed a silver chain around her neck.

Iris froze as she felt the warm metal against her neck, as she felt the charm touch her chest. Seto clipped the ring and hook together as Iris turned towards him. He saw her delicate fingers hold the silver heart shaped locket with a sapphire gem in the center. "Seto."

He wrapped his arms around her, as he held her tightly against him. Pulling back a bit, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Iris…" he looked into her dazzling blue eyes, as she placed a hand on his cheek. "The day of the fire… I realized something… both you and my brother, you both mean everything to me. The thought of losing either one of you terrifies me, and it took me almost losing you to realize how much you mean to me." he told her.

Iris felt her eyes begin to fill up with tears as they ran down her cheeks. "Seto…"

"Iris, I love you."

Iris inhaled sharply as time seemed to standstill. He said he loved her. Iris's heart almost stopped, "I love you too Seto." as those words were spoken out from her, Iris could help but to bury her face in Seto's chest. "When I was in that coma I thought I was going to die, but I realized that I didn't want to leave you. I wanted to stay by your side!"

Looking back at him, Iris saw Seto smile as they both leaned into each other as they kissed. They both just wanted this moment to last forever.


End file.
